(Illustration by Z. Coşkun Özcan)
By Seda Karatabanoglu & Zeynep Yüncüler
Unethical practices and differing legal regulations in the global surrogacy market—especially along the Turkey-Georgia-Northern Cyprus route—underscore the need for international oversight.
The global surrogacy industry is experiencing an unprecedented boom, raising ethical concerns across borders. As more couples turn to surrogacy as a path to parenthood, this assisted reproductive technology has evolved into a multi-billion dollar market.
According to recent research, the global surrogacy industry is projected to grow from $21.85 billion in 2024, to $196 billion by 2034. This explosive growth is primarily concentrated in Europe and North America, where surrogacy is legal and regulated.
However, the legal landscape of surrogacy remains a complex patchwork across nations, with some countries embracing it while others maintain strict prohibitions. This inconsistency in regulations has created gray areas.
Scientific research highlights the possibility of abuse arising from gaps in legal frameworks and disputes, whether surrogacy is legal or not. It points to unethical practices such as trafficking of women, coercion of both surrogates and prospective parents by agencies, lack of respect for bodily autonomy or informed consent, ‘sham’ procedures and multiple embryo exchanges.
Cross-Border Exploitation: A Dark Web of Surrogacy
Surrogacy-related abuse often happens in a region formed by three countries: Turkey, Georgia and Northern Cyprus.
While surrogacy remains illegal in Turkey, it’s perfectly legal in its northeastern neighbor Georgia and southern neighbor Northern Cyprus, creating a dangerous legal vacuum that enables exploitation.
The Hope for the Future Association, based in Tbilisi, Georgia, is one of the organizations reporting cases of abuse and illegal surrogacy in the country.
“Our organization has evidence of both Georgian and Turkish citizens being used as surrogate mothers, along with cases of children being transported across borders with falsified documents,” said Tamar Khachapuridze, the association’s director. “We’ve reported these to the prosecutor’s office. Despite a decade-long investigation by Georgian prosecutors, these cases remain collecting dust. It appears someone is working to keep these dark dealings under wraps.”
Khachapuridze cited a particularly alarming case involving a Turkish surrogate mother. After undergoing embryo transfer in Georgia, she was reportedly transported to Thailand three months before giving birth, where she delivered a baby intended for a single Chinese man.
This case directly violates Georgian law, which explicitly prohibits embryo transfer or any surrogacy procedures for women from foreign countries.
When we obtained the case number from Khachapuridze’s files and approached the Georgian Prosecutor’s Office with written questions about the existence and content of the investigation, our written inquiries and follow-up calls went unanswered.
Rusudan Nanava, a Tbilisi-based lawyer handling surrogacy cases, explained the wall of silence: “I doubt you’ll get any information from the prosecutor’s office. Criminal cases, especially those involving surrogacy, are treated with the highest level of confidentiality.”
This article was published on February 8, 2025, in Ms. Magazine. Click here to read it.
Seda Karatabanoglu 