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04.11.2026

Parentage Registration After Surrogacy in Georgia (the Country): Documents, Deadlines and Leaving with Your Baby

In Georgia, the intended parents of a child born through surrogacy are entered on the birth record directly, without a court order or adoption. To achieve this, three documents must reach the civil registration authority, the Public Service Development Agency: the clinic's certificate confirming in vitro fertilisation, a surrogacy agreement concluded before the embryo was created and certified by a public notarial act, and applications from both parents. They must be filed within 7 calendar days of the submission of the medical birth certificate (Order No. 18 of the Minister of Justice, Art. 19). If the deadline is missed or a document is defective, the child is registered without parents and will not be allowed to leave Georgia.

This article covers the birth registration stage only. For who may sign a surrogacy agreement, how it is concluded and whether foreigners can use surrogacy in Georgia, see our Surrogacy and IVF Law in Georgia: A Legal Guide.

Key points:

The legal parents are the genetic parents, or one genetic parent and the second person named in the agreement, or the couple. The surrogate and any donor can never be registered as parents (Order No. 18, Art. 19(3)–(4)).
The documents must be filed, and the fee paid, within 7 calendar days of the submission of the medical birth certificate (Art. 19(6)).
The Agency registers the birth within 5 working days of receiving the documents (Art. 19(6)).
If the clinic's certificate is defective, the clinic gets 15 working days to correct it (Art. 19(7)).
A surrogacy-born child registered without both parents will be refused exit at the border (Joint Order No. 133/No. 144 of 2016, Art. 5).
A child born to foreign parents does not automatically become a Georgian citizen. The exception is a child whom neither parent's country recognises as its citizen (Organic Law on Georgian Citizenship, Art. 10(b)).

Who is registered as the child's parent after surrogacy in Georgia?

Under Article 143(2) of the Law on Health Care, when a child is born through in vitro fertilisation (the law's term is "extracorporeal fertilisation"), the couple are the child's parents, "with the resulting responsibility and authority". Neither the donor nor the surrogate has the right to be recognised as a parent.

Article 19(3) of Order No. 18 sets this out in detail. The parents are:

(a) the genetic parents, where the embryo was created from the couple's own egg and sperm;
(b) the genetic parent and the second person to be registered as a parent under the agreement, where one gamete comes from a donor;
(c) the couple, where both gametes come from donors.

Article 19(4) flatly prohibits naming the donor or the surrogate as a parent on the birth record. The surrogate's consent is therefore not needed at registration. She gives it in the surrogacy agreement, which she must sign before the notary in person (Order No. 71, Art. 54¹(2)).

Only a couple that met the eligibility criteria when the agreement was signed can be registered: a man and a woman who have been married for at least one year or have lived together for at least the last year (Order No. 18, Art. 19(1¹)). Cohabitation must be proven to the notary with documents (Order No. 71, Art. 54¹(4)). The couple requirement is explained in detail in our legal guide.

What documents do you need to register the birth?

Under Article 30 of the Law on Civil Status Acts, the registration of a child born through IVF is governed by that Law, the Law on Health Care and an order of the Minister of Justice. That order is Order No. 18, and its Article 19(1) requires two special documents. They are filed "together with the documents required by Georgian law", meaning the standard birth registration documents.

Special documents:

The IVF certificate (Annex No. 2 to Order No. 18). The clinic that performs the embryo transfer issues it at the time of transfer, and no later than the next working day. It must bear a qualified electronic signature or seal. It records the details of the couple, the surrogate and any donor, including their citizenship, and information about the embryo and the transfer.
The surrogacy agreement, concluded before the embryo was created and certified by a public notarial act (Order No. 71, Art. 54¹(6)). Who signs depends on the case: the surrogate and the couple (sub-paragraph b.a); the surrogate, both members of the couple and the donor (b.b); or the surrogate, the couple and the donors (b.c).

Applications from both parents. Article 19(5) requires an application from each parent. One parent's application is enough only if the other parent died between the signing of the agreement and the birth, or has been placed under supported decision-making.

Standard documents. According to the Agency's official guidance, birth registration also requires:

the parents' identity documents (passports, for foreign nationals);
a marriage certificate, if the parents are married. Unmarried parents file a joint application (Order No. 18, Art. 18);
the medical birth certificate, which the maternity hospital sends to the Agency electronically.

Foreign documents. Any document issued abroad, such as a marriage certificate, must carry an apostille or be legalised (Law on Civil Status Acts, Art. 11(2)) and must be filed with a notarised Georgian translation. Passports are exempt. An apostille is used between states party to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention; otherwise the document needs consular legalisation. Georgian law or an international treaty may provide an exception, so check the requirement for your country's documents in advance. The apostille on your marriage certificate is issued by your own country, so start well before the due date.

Where and how. Applications are filed at a Public Service Hall or a territorial office of the Agency. A parent may also apply through a representative holding a power of attorney. Documents are filed in paper form, but documents whose data the Agency already holds in its electronic database need not be filed. A power of attorney signed abroad must carry an apostille and a notarised Georgian translation.

What are the deadlines for registering the birth?

Registration after surrogacy runs on much tighter deadlines than an ordinary birth. Parents usually have one month to register a birth (Law on Civil Status Acts, Art. 23). After IVF, they have 7 days.

The process involves four deadlines:

The clinic's certificate. The clinic issues the IVF certificate at the time of embryo transfer, and no later than the next working day (Order No. 18, Art. 19(1)(a)).
The parents' documents. The parents file the documents within 7 calendar days of the submission of the medical birth certificate and pay the fee within the same period (Art. 19(6)).
Registration. The Agency registers the birth within 5 working days of filing (Art. 19(6)).
Correcting defects. If the clinic's certificate is defective, the clinic corrects it within 15 working days of the Agency's notice (Art. 19(7)).

When the 7 days start. The clock does not start at birth but when the medical birth certificate is submitted to the Agency. The maternity hospital sends it electronically within 5 working days of the birth (Law on Civil Status Acts, Art. 23(3)), and parents rarely know exactly when. The safe approach is to count from the day of birth and file within the first few days. The 7 calendar days include weekends and public holidays.

A defective clinic certificate. If the IVF certificate is filled in incorrectly or incompletely, or the supporting documents are missing, the Agency gives the clinic 15 working days to fix it (Art. 19(7)). At that point the outcome depends on the clinic. If it does not correct the defect in time, the consequence under Article 19(6) follows: the child is registered without parents.

What if the embryo was frozen or created at another clinic?

Frozen embryos. The agreement must normally be signed before the embryo is created, but Article 19(2) makes an exception for frozen embryos. If the embryo was cryopreserved after creation and no more than 10 years have passed between creation and transfer, the agreement must be signed before the transfer. The Agency must also receive a certificate drawn up before freezing that names the couple who will be registered as the child's parents.

If more than 10 years have passed, the exception no longer applies and the general rule returns: the agreement must have been signed before the embryo was created. Get legal advice before using such an embryo.

Embryos created at another clinic or abroad. If the embryo was not created at the clinic that performs the transfer, the embryo details on the IVF certificate are taken from the document confirming its creation, which must be attached to the certificate (Art. 19(2¹)). For embryos imported from abroad, the certificate also records the date of import and the border crossing point (Annex No. 2).

Collect these documents before the embryo is transferred. If the previous clinic never issued a creation or freezing record, obtaining one at the registration stage is very difficult.

What happens if the documents are not filed on time?

Under Article 19(6), if the documents are not filed or the fee is not paid within 7 days, the Agency refuses to register the birth with the requested details. In that case:

no parents are entered on the birth record;
the child's first name and surname are entered on the application of the guardianship and custody authority.

The same consequence follows if a defect in the clinic's certificate is not corrected within 15 working days (Art. 19(7)). An agreement signed after the embryo was created does not meet the requirement of Article 19(1)(b), so in that case too there is a high risk that registration with the parents' details will be refused.

Exit ban. This has a second consequence that is even harder in practice. Under Article 5 of Joint Order No. 133/No. 144 of 2016 of the Ministers of Justice and Internal Affairs, if a surrogacy-born child is leaving Georgia for the first time and the birth record does not name both parents, or the birth has not been registered at all, the border officer must refuse exit.

What can be done. The Agency's refusal is an individual administrative act. It is first challenged by an administrative complaint under the General Administrative Code, generally within one month of official notice of the decision. Except where the law provides otherwise, a court will hear a claim against an administrative body only after that step (Administrative Procedure Code, Art. 2(5)). The border officer's refusal can also be appealed (Joint Order, Art. 5(3)). Every day counts, because the child remains registered without parents in the meantime.

This risk is real. In September 2019, after Article 19 of Order No. 18 was amended, the Agency stated publicly that between 9 and 13 September it had registered 26 children of foreign parents born through surrogacy programmes at eight clinics, even though the clinics had broken the rules in every case. To protect those children, the Minister adopted a temporary transitional rule. No such transitional rule applies today.

Can the birth be registered if one parent is absent?

Yes, but the application must still be made in both parents' names. There are two ways to do this:

Through a representative. A parent who cannot travel to Georgia can appoint a representative by power of attorney: the other parent, a lawyer or someone else. Joint Order No. 133/No. 144 also expressly contemplates a registration application filed on the parents' behalf (Art. 2(1)). A power of attorney signed abroad needs an apostille and a notarised Georgian translation.
By a notarised application. Article 18(4) of Order No. 18 expressly allows this for unmarried parents.

Prepare the power of attorney before the birth. Arranging a notary abroad, an apostille, courier delivery to Georgia and a translation after the birth rarely fits into 7 days.

Registration on one parent's application alone is possible only if the other parent died after the agreement was signed and before the birth, or has been placed under supported decision-making (Art. 19(5)).

What citizenship does a surrogacy-born child have?

Georgia does not grant citizenship by place of birth. Under Article 10 of the Organic Law on Georgian Citizenship, a child is a Georgian citizen by birth:

under sub-paragraph (a), if at least one parent is a Georgian citizen at the time of birth;
under sub-paragraph (b), if the child was born in Georgia through in vitro fertilisation (surrogacy) and neither parent's country of citizenship recognises the child as its citizen.

So the child of foreign parents usually takes the parents' citizenship under their own country's law. Sub-paragraph (b) is a safeguard: it prevents the child from becoming stateless if the parents' country does not recognise surrogacy.

How do you leave Georgia with your baby?

The Georgian procedure ends with birth registration. What follows depends on your home country's law and your embassy's practice. The usual sequence is:

Birth certificate. After registration, the Agency issues a birth certificate naming the intended parents. According to the Agency, the birth certificate is issued free of charge.
Apostille and translation. To use the certificate abroad, it needs an apostille, issued by the Public Service Development Agency (Government Decree No. 405 of 18 August 2016). If the parents have already left Georgia, an apostille on a document issued by the Agency can also be requested electronically from abroad, provided the applicant can be identified by video call against the Agency's database (Art. 7(2) of the rules approved by the Decree). The certificate is then translated into the language your embassy requires.
The child's passport or travel document. This is issued by your country's embassy. Some embassies require a DNA test to confirm a genetic link, as well as the surrogacy agreement and clinic records.
Crossing the border. The border officer checks the Agency's database to confirm that both parents are named on the child's birth record (Joint Order, Art. 5).

Will your home country recognise the Georgian birth certificate?

Not automatically. The Georgian birth certificate establishes parentage in Georgia, but your home country may assess it under its own law. Many countries treat the woman who gave birth as the mother. For example, under § 1591 of the German Civil Code, the mother of a child is the woman who gave birth to it. In such countries, the intended mother may need an additional procedure, such as adoption, to be recognised as a parent.

In Mennesson v. France (2014), the European Court of Human Rights held that refusing to recognise the relationship between a child and the genetic father violated the child's right to respect for private life. In its advisory opinion of 10 April 2019, the Court added that states must also provide a way to recognise the relationship with the intended mother. States choose the means, and in later cases the Court accepted adoption as one of them. The Court's key theme document on surrogacy summarises this case law.

Before starting a programme, find out how parentage is recognised in your country, which documents your embassy requires and how long the child's passport takes.

Which common claims are wrong?

A lot of what is published online about registering a surrogacy birth in Georgia is inaccurate. The most frequent errors:

"The agreement must be signed before embryo transfer." Wrong. As a rule, it must be signed before the embryo is created (Art. 19(1)(b)). Signing before transfer is allowed only for frozen embryos, and only if no more than 10 years have passed since creation.
"A Georgian court issues a pre-birth parentage order." Wrong. Georgian law has no such procedure. Parentage is established without a court, through birth registration.
"The birth certificate is issued within 24 hours." Not accurate. After IVF, the Agency has 5 working days from filing to register the birth. Ordinary births are registered by the next working day, but that rule does not apply to surrogacy.
"The clinic handles everything." Only partly. The clinic issues its certificate, but the registration application and the 7-day deadline are the parents' responsibility.

Practical checklist for foreign intended parents

Before the programme starts:

marriage certificate or proof of cohabitation, with an apostille and notarised Georgian translation;
a surrogacy agreement concluded before the embryo is created and certified by a public notarial act;
if the embryo was created elsewhere: its creation and freezing records;
information from your embassy on the child's passport requirements and whether a DNA test is needed.

After embryo transfer:

a copy of the IVF certificate. Check that your details, the surrogate's and the donor's, and the dates, are correct;
a power of attorney for a representative, if one parent may not be in Georgia at the birth.

In the first days after the birth:

both parents' applications and all documents filed at a Public Service Hall;
the fee paid within the same 7-day window;
the birth certificate collected, apostilled and translated;
the child's passport obtained from your embassy.

If you are planning a surrogacy programme in Georgia or have run into a problem at the registration stage, the L&L Consulting team can check your documents in advance, deal with the Agency and the clinic, and challenge a refusal. Learn more about our medical law practice.

Frequently asked questions

Who is registered as the parent of a surrogacy-born child in Georgia? The couple who signed the surrogacy agreement. The surrogate and any donor cannot be named as parents on the birth record (Order No. 18, Art. 19(3)–(4)).

Is a court order or adoption needed to establish parentage? No. In Georgia, parentage is established through birth registration, on the basis of the documents filed with the Agency.

How soon must the birth be registered? The documents must be filed, and the fee paid, within 7 calendar days of the submission of the medical birth certificate. The Agency registers the birth within 5 working days of filing.

What if we miss the 7-day deadline? The child is registered without parents, and the name is entered on the application of the guardianship and custody authority. Such a child will be refused exit from Georgia.

Can one parent register the child alone? The application must be made in both parents' names, but one parent can act through a representative under a power of attorney. One parent's application alone is enough only if the other parent has died or has been placed under supported decision-making.

Does a surrogacy-born child get Georgian citizenship? Only if one parent is a Georgian citizen, or if neither parent's country recognises the child as its citizen (Organic Law on Georgian Citizenship, Art. 10).

Does the surrogate appear on the birth certificate? No. Article 19(4) of Order No. 18 prohibits naming the surrogate as a parent on the birth record.

What if the clinic's certificate contains an error? The Agency gives the clinic 15 working days to correct it. If it is not corrected in time, the child is registered without parents.