As the birth date of your surrogate baby approaches, your excitement will rise. Maybe you have been in frequent contact with our patient coordinator, receiving updates and discussing signs of labor. While you are preparing for the task ahead, here is what to expect after the baby is born.
Legal rights in the postpartum period
After the baby is born, the surrogate mother is obliged to give the newborn to the couple and/or their legal representative and not to hinder the couple to register as its parents. This also includes allowing intended parents to make all important decisions about the child’s care (e.g. immunization, hospitalization, medical treatment). In case the couple refuses the newborn, the child will be transferred to an appropriate state institution.
Citizenship
A baby born via surrogacy is not considered a Georgian citizen. The surrogate mother is not considered the parent of the child. The baby born as a result of surrogacy is considered a citizen of the country on the basis of his/her parents’ citizenship. However, intended parents cannot take the baby outside of Georgia unless they have the baby’s passport or travel document issued by the respective embassy.
Passport
The length of your stay in Tbilisi (Georgia) depends on your nationality or the passport you hold. This will affect the time and the process for your embassy to issue a passport for the newborn.
For example, it takes approximately 2.5 months for a baby of a UK couple to receive a passport from their embassy in Georgia. For American and Canadian citizens, the application process may take 3-4 weeks. Intended parents from Kuwait may wait up to a week for their passport to arrive.
Before proceeding with surrogacy, it’s best to contact your own embassy to check which documents you need to provide when applying for your baby’s passport. You should also get informed about the duration of your stay in Georgia.
Birth certificate
While the passports can only be only issued by your embassy, the AtlasCARE IVF clinic is responsible for applying for the baby’s birth certificate. After childbirth, our lawyer will provide the documents needed for the application process and will assist the intended parents to apply for a birth certificate in the House of Justice (HOJ).
The birth certificate officially establishes the intended parents as the baby’s legal parents. Even in the case of an embryo being obtained from an egg donation or sperm donation, which is transferred into the uterus of the surrogate mother, the intended parents will be deemed as legal parents of the child.
Emotional meeting
When your baby is born, the surrogate does not see the baby unless otherwise decided by the parties. Following the physical transfer of the baby, you should strive for as much skin-on-skin contact as possible. You may even consider breastfeeding the baby as one way to promote connection. Additional steps may include:
- Talking to your baby so that it will become more familiar with you and your family.
- Recording yourself while talking or reading books and sending the tapes to your surrogate.
- Sending your favorite music to the surrogate to play it to the unborn baby so it will become familiar to the sound when you bring it home.
The AtlasCARE team is with you every step of the way!
When you choose a surrogacy clinic/agency, you’re committing to a year or more with the same team — so it’s immensely important that you are confident with your choice from the very beginning.
We are happy to sit down with you, explain the entire surrogacy process to the tiniest detail and answer your questions. Starting the surrogacy journey with AtlasCARE IVF also means that you’ll be involved as much as possible throughout your surrogate’s pregnancy so you can prepare yourself for the new baby and develop a sense of connection and attachment.
From creating your intended parent profile to finding a surrogate mother and organizing all legalities, the AtlasCARE IVF clinic will empower and elevate your journey to parenthood so that you take your newborn baby home with ease.