Because there isn’t a specific law allowing or prohibiting surrogacy in Georgia, a common question we get asked is if Georgia is a friendly state for surrogacy. The answer is yes!

While there are two types of surrogacy, Gestational Surrogacy and Traditional Surrogacy, the legal process for Gestational Surrogacy is the most common by far – and the easiest. Whether you are an Intended Parent working with a surrogate in Georgia, or a mom located here hoping to help someone have a child, our staff can speak to the entire process personally because some of us have completed our own surrogacy journeys here.

Family Makers only works with prospective surrogates in states where legal processes are favorable for surrogacy. Georgia is one of those states, and where our offices are headquartered. Not only do we work with surrogate mothers in Georgia, but we also partner with fertility clinics who are based here and are well-versed in Gestational Surrogacy. They include, but aren’t limited to:

CCRM Fertility – Atlanta Center for Reproductive Medicine

Augusta University

Emory Reproductive Center

Reproductive Biology Associates

Shady Grove Fertility – Atlanta

If you need assistance in choosing a fertility clinic for fertility treatment or just embryo creation, we can also help choose that very important detail on your journey to parenthood. We will always recommend that you research specific statistics for each one by using user-friendly resources like the Society for Assisted Reproduction and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.

It’s hard to believe, but every state has a different legal approach to surrogacy. Many states, like Georgia, are considered “friendly” to families pursuing surrogacy, but have a lack of surrogacy laws around the subject. Most states, in fact, are like Georgia – having no specific laws but allowing a seamless process for all involved. Using a recommended surrogacy attorney who is licensed in Georgia and familiar with the process of surrogacy specifically in Georgia is extremely important because courts are silent on the issue. By using a surrogacy attorney well-versed in contract law, reproduction legal advice, and in filing Georgia parental orders, Family Makers can ensure that all Intended Parents we work with have no problems whatsoever becoming their child’s legal parents from the baby’s first breath.

Here in Georgia, because our current laws do no address surrogacy specifically, an efficient legal process has been created over the course of years to make it easy for any parent-to-be and surrogate mother to have their journeys safely. The legal contract you sign at the beginning of your journey with your match is legally binding in the eyes of the courts. Any experienced surrogacy attorney representing your interests are skilled in creating an equitable argument which will uphold your written contract. The contract will most importantly stipulate that the surrogate mother has no legal rights to the baby she carries, and that she intends to give the baby back she is carrying for her Intended Parents. This protects the Gestational Surrogate and the Intended Parents throughout the entire process, both legally and financially.

In fact, because Georgia is so friendly when it comes to surrogacy, the courts do not discriminate or complicate matters based on relationship status or sexual orientation. Many same-sex couples, as well as single pursuing their path to parenthood find that establishing their parental rights to be easy and stress-free. This goes for parents with zero biological connection to the baby as well. In the eyes of Georgia courts, a surrogacy contract and supporting parental affidavits are all they need to grant what is needed for Intended Parents to be legally acknowledged as the baby’s legal parent.

As we have already mentioned, your surrogacy contract signed at the beginning of your journey is extremely important. After medical screening at the fertility clinic is complete, drafting of the legal contracts begin. At the time you match, Family Makers reviews all of the important topics that both parties should agree on before ever even reaching out to a surrogacy attorney. Topics include things like surrogate compensation, what health insurance will be purchased and utilized, who has been chosen for legal counsel, what hospital and physician will be used for the pregnancy, and a wide range of other issues.

This surrogacy agreement also outlines important details that will eventually be used for the parental filing step we will discuss next. Is a egg donor or sperm donor being used to create the Intended Parents’ embryos? Embryo donor, where the embryo isn’t biologically related to the Intended Parent(s)? Is this a Traditional Surrogacy or Gestational Surrogacy arrangement? Single parent or married couple? Heterosexual couple or gay couple? Type of surrogacy? Stating all of this in the surrogacy agreement shows clear intent and understanding by all parties from the very beginning of the surrogacy process.

Once pregnancy has been established and the first trimester is behind you, the second legal step is completed. The experienced surrogacy professionals, including your case manager and attorney, will again be involved, this time in drafting or reviewing paperwork for establishing parental rights. This paperwork will later be submitted to a judge declaring the legal parents of the baby that will be born. In Georgia, both the Surrogate and the Intended Parents must have legal representation for this phase. Paperwork drafted includes a request to the courts acknowledging the surrogacy arrangement, and supporting documentation in the form of multiple affidavits. These affidavits are signed by the Surrogate, Intended Parent(s), and fertility doctor who oversaw embryo creation and embryo transfer. One significant statement details that the Surrogate cannot medically even be the biological mother of the baby due to the fertility clinic’s oversight of her cycle.

All affidavits are extremely detailed in nature, and provide acknowledgement from all parties that the baby was created and carried in an ethical and responsible way, with everyone understanding that the Gestational Carrier is giving up any parental rights to the baby she is carrying. Intended Parents must also state their acceptance of the baby as their own. Most filings in Georgia are then presented to a Fulton County judge. Once signed by the judge, this is called an executed Pre-Birth Order which officially names the Intended Parent(s) as the legal parent to the baby.

As your experienced surrogacy agency and advocate, Family Makers will also provide a copy of the executed Pre-Birth order and a Birth Preferences document to the hospital where the baby will be born. These documents will be shared with the obstetrician, social worker, labor and delivery staff and the hospital’s risk management to ensure everyone’s wishes are followed as closely as possible on delivery day. Most hospitals in Georgia have experience with surrogacy deliveries now, and rarely have questions when it comes to who’s name goes on the Birth Certificate. The Pre-Birth order specifically instructs Georgia Vital Records to indicate the Intended Parents’ as the original names to be placed on the hospital birth certificate questionnaire. Once submitted to the Georgia Vital Records Office in Atlanta, Intended Parents can expect to get an official copy of the Birth Certificate a couple of weeks after delivery. Hospitals we have worked with include, but not limited to:

Northside Hospital – Atlanta, Cumming, Lawrenceville

Wellstar – Kennestone

Piedmont Hospital– Atlanta, Cumming, Stockbridge, Macon

Atrium Navicent Health – Macon

Memorial Health -Savannah

St. Joseph’s/Candler – Savannah

St Mary’s Health Care System – Athens

Piedmont – Athens Regional Hospital

Houston Healthcare – Warner Robins

Memorial Satilla Health – Waycross

East Georgia Regional Hospital – Statesboro

Phoebe Putney Hospital – Albany

South Georgia Medical Center – Valdosta

Northeast Medical Center – Gainesville