For married couples from the United States · Reviewed June 2026
Surrogacy is legal across much of the US, and American agencies do excellent work. The honest problem is arithmetic: a typical domestic journey now runs well into six figures. This page walks through the numbers, the legal protections our three program countries offer, and exactly how your child comes home with a US passport.
Entry one
Nobody leaves home for fun. Couples write to us after pricing two or three US agencies, and the spreadsheets all tell the same story. Here is a candid side-by-side, line by line.
US figures are ranges our clients report from agency quotes and published industry estimates; they vary by state and case — our 2026 international cost comparison shows the full picture. Our figures are flat package prices paid in milestones — the full breakdown, with what each tier covers, is on the cost page. Nothing on this page knocks US agencies: if the domestic budget works for you, a home-state journey with a pre-birth order is a superb path. This page exists for couples for whom it does not.
Entry two
The fear under every first call is the same — "could the surrogate keep the baby?" In our three program countries, the answer is settled by statute, not by contract alone.
Stronger than a contract
Ukraine writes it into Article 123 of its Family Code; Georgia has permitted it by statute since 1997; Armenia follows the same model. You are the legal parents from the moment of birth, and the birth certificate is issued in your names. No post-birth adoption, no judge weighing custody.
The question behind the question
Unlike several US states' older case law, the surrogate has no statutory window to change her mind. Every surrogate signs a notarized agreement before transfer and has already raised at least one healthy child of her own.
Who the statutes cover
All three frameworks are written for married heterosexual couples with a documented medical need — which is also the only audience we work with. If that is not your situation, a US or Canadian program will serve you better, and we say so in the first call.
Entry three
The package price is identical wherever you go; the differences are pace, paperwork and personal preference. Ukraine issues the birth certificate immediately; Georgia routes it through the civil registry in a week or two; Armenia lands in between.
Compare the three destinations in detail on the programs page — including how each country handles the war question, clinic locations and registry timing.
Entry four
Your child's path to a US passport runs through the Consular Report of Birth Abroad. For married American couples it is a well-worn track, and we prepare the file with you before the birth, not after.
Your baby is born at the partner clinic and the local certificate is issued naming you both as parents. We handle the notarized translations and apostille.
You apply for the Consular Report of Birth Abroad and the first passport in one visit. Under the State Department's 2021 policy for married couples, your child qualifies when either spouse has a genetic or gestational link to the child and the citizenship transmission rules are met.
One citizen parent must show the required physical presence in the United States — five years for a citizen married to a non-citizen, two of them after age fourteen; shorter rules apply when both of you are citizens. We flag this in the very first consultation, because it shapes which of you should be the genetic parent.
Once the passport is issued you fly home as a family. Plan on roughly two to four weeks in the program country after the birth for documents and the embassy appointment.
The CRBA is federal proof of citizenship; family-law recognition is a state matter. Most families never need anything more, but some attorneys recommend a confirmatory parentage judgment depending on your state. Ask yours — and if you want a referral to a US attorney experienced with international surrogacy, we will make the introduction.
Entry five
No. In Ukraine, Georgia and Armenia the intended parents are the legal parents from birth by statute, and the surrogate has no parental claim to revoke. This is precisely why these jurisdictions appeal to American couples coming from states where case law is thinner: the protection sits in the law itself, not only in the contract.
Yes, provided the transmission requirements are met. For a married couple, the child qualifies when either spouse has a genetic or gestational connection to the child and the citizen parent satisfies the physical-presence rule. The CRBA and first passport are usually issued within a few weeks of the embassy appointment; plan two to four weeks in-country after the birth overall.
It can be, and it is fixable if caught early. The five-year presence requirement (two years after age fourteen) applies when one spouse is not a citizen; different, easier rules apply when both of you are citizens. Presence does not need to be continuous, and which parent provides the genetic link matters. Raise it in the free consultation — this single question changes more program plans than any other for US clients.
Programs run exclusively through the western and central regions; births take place in Kyiv or Lviv at clinics with full security protocols, and nobody in our care has been harmed in four years of the conflict. If you prefer to take the question off the table entirely, Georgia and Armenia run on the same flat price — many of our American couples choose Tbilisi for exactly that reason.
There is no hidden line item — the difference is structural. Surrogate compensation, medical costs and professional fees in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus are simply a fraction of US levels, while the clinics work to the same IVF protocols (including PGT-A on 24 chromosomes). You give up geographic proximity and a US courtroom; you keep statutory parentage, milestone-based payments and a single point of contact who answers his own phone.
In the consultation we run your numbers honestly, check the citizenship transmission question, and map which country fits your case. You get a written summary afterwards and decide in your own time, in your own time zone.
Novaparent is an agency registered in Ukraine and works exclusively with married heterosexual couples with a medical indication. More about us in the founder's letter.