Surrogacy in Ukraine and Georgia
Guidance, law and latest news for British parents having children through surrogacy in Ukraine and Georgia
– from the UK’s leading surrogacy lawyers
Explore our Ukraine and Georgia surrogacy hub
Ukraine and Georgia have legal frameworks supporting surrogacy for heterosexual couples.
Until 2022, Ukraine was the second most popular international surrogacy destination for UK parents after the US, with many agencies offering surrogacy and egg donation services for married couples. Since Russia invaded in February 2022, the UK Foreign Office has advised UK parents not to engage in surrogacy in Ukraine, and there are significant risks associated with conceiving a child in a warzone.
Georgia has legislation which explicitly supports surrogacy for heterosexual parents, although there are fewer surrogacy agencies in Georgia and the war in Ukraine has placed considerable strain on the system. Care is needed to follow the Georgian legal requirements carefully, and to navigate surrogacy safely and ethically.
Our Ukraine and Georgia surrogacy content hub gives free information and resources on UK legal issues for intended parents conceiving children through surrogacy in Ukraine or Georgia.
What’s the UK legal process for surrogacy in Ukraine or Georgia?
International surrogacy and UK law
Why do you need to think about UK law if you are going to Ukraine or Georgia for surrogacy? Find out what to ask at the planning stages, how to bring your baby home and what you need to do to become a family under UK law
Parental orders
UK parents who have a child through surrogacy in Ukraine or Georgia are expected to apply for a UK parental order after their child is born. Find out why you need one, what the court is assessing and how the process works
Latest news about surrogacy in Ukraine and Georgia
Ukraine surrogates and their families to be given special visas to come to the UK
The Home Secretary Priti Patel will issue special discretionary visas to any pregnant Ukraine surrogates carrying British children who wish to come to the UK. Writing personally to Natalie and immigration lawyer Barry O'Leary who has supported us this week, the Home...
Emergency help for UK parents through Ukraine surrogacy
In response to the war in Ukraine, our team has been working to support British parents with or expecting babies through surrogacy. If you are need our help, please contact us at hello@ngalaw.co.uk. What we are doing to support surrogacy families With 42...
Getting surrogacy families home during COVID-19 – NGA and the families we are helping in the news
On 20 March 2020 the US Passport Office closed its doors to in-person passport applications as a result of the escalating COVID pandemic, meaning that a number of our parents with newborn surrogate babies (who usually rely on the US passport to travel back to the UK)...
NGA on the BBC Today Programme today – surrogacy babies stranded due to COVID
Natalie Gamble was interviewed on this morning’s BBC Radio 4 Today Programme (here at 7.14am) about the problems faced by surrogacy families in the current coronavirus crisis. Natalie spoke to the BBC Radio 4 Today programme this morning about the crisis work we are...
Will my child through surrogacy be born British? And how do I apply for a British Passport?
If you are expecting a child through surrogacy, one of your top questions may be how you get a British passport for your baby, particularly if they are born outside the UK. British nationality can be complicated in surrogacy cases, and what you need to do depends on...
NGA quoted in the Guardian: Unregistered surrogate-born children creating legal timebomb, warns judge
Today's Guardian has reported comments made by High Court judge Mrs Justice Theis at a conference last week about her concerns for children born through international surrogacy whose parents have not applied to properly resolve their legal status in the UK. ...
New Foreign Office guidance for parents planning international surrogacy
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has today published updated guidance for parents planning international surrogacy arrangements. We have been working with the FCO on this new guidance as part of our campaigning and policy work and are proud to have helped with...
High Court judge warns ‘loud and clear’: international surrogacy parents need a UK court order
In a High Court ruling published today (a case in which we represented the parents), Mrs Justice Theis has warned parents of children born through international surrogacy that they must apply to court in the UK if they want to be the legal parents of their children....
Re X and Y: a trek through a thorn forest – Article published in Family Law
Natalie has co-written an article with Lucy Theis QC for Family Law about the leading surrogacy case of Re X and Y (2008), the UK's first parental order to be granted following an international commercial surrogacy arrangement, and in which NGA represented the...
Media coverage of first international surrogacy case
Natalie Gamble successful represented the parents in Re X and Y (2008), the UK's first parents to be granted a parental order following a surrogacy arrangement outside the UK. The judge's decision was reported, leading to national media coverage of the landmark case....
Our legal services for surrogacy in Ukraine or Georgia
Advice for those planning surrogacy
With decades of experience, we routinely advise intended parents planning surrogacy to help them weigh the risks, timescales, costs and ethics of the different international surrogacy options they may be considering, including surrogacy in Ukraine and Georgia.
Top tier legal representation
We support intended parents living in the UK and overseas to navigate UK law successfully, including applications for British nationality and UK passports for surrogate babies, High Court parental order (or other family law) applications, wills and more.
Our pioneering work on Ukraine and Georgia surrogacy
2022
Supporting the whole community of UK intended parents expecting babies
We worked pro bono with every single UK parent expecting a baby through surrogacy when Russia invaded. We lobbied Parliament, liaised personally with the Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary, secured a process for granting emergency travel documents quickly (both for surrogates and babies), and worked over the next 9 months to successfully rescue every one of the British babies born in Ukraine. In total, we helped get 46 British babies to safety.
2020
Solving international surrogacy challenges during the pandemic
We successfully lobbied the UK government to create a new emergency passport process for standard surrogate babies in April 2020, and in October 2020 persuaded the HFEA to permit the export of eggs, sperm andd embryos overseas for surrogacy to enable intended parents to conceive. With Ukraine airspace closed in the first half of 2020, we even helped a group of intended parents to pool their resources to hire a private jet to get to their babies’ births.
2008
The UK’s first international surrogacy case
Our founder Natalie represented the very first UK parents to be granted a parental order after international surrogacy. In a then-landmark High Court decision, the court granted legal parenthood to a British couple with twins through surrogacy in Ukraine who had, as the judge said, been ‘marooned stateless and parentless’ because of the conflict between UK and Ukraine law.
Still have questions?
If you need legal advice or want to make an appointment, feel free to get in touch. We offer meetings in-person in London or in the New Forest, as well as online.