Can You Be a Surrogate in Georgia?

Georgia has no surrogacy law on the books, yet gestational surrogacy happens here every year. Here's what Georgia law does and doesn't say, how parentage is settled, and what that means for you as the woman carrying the pregnancy.

Published October 21, 2026

Yes - gestational surrogacy, including paid surrogacy, is practiced in Georgia, even though no Georgia statute sets rules for it. Because the law is silent, parentage is settled by court orders that can vary by county and judge, so having your own Georgia attorney matters even more here than in states with a detailed surrogacy law.

"Georgia surrogacy" is one of the searches that brings women to our site, and the answers out there are confusing. Part of the confusion is simple: many headlines about Georgia banning or restricting surrogacy are about the country of Georgia, not the state. This article is about the state. Here's the plain version of what the law says, what it leaves open, and what that means for you.

What Georgia law actually says

As of October 2026, Georgia has no statute that regulates gestational surrogacy. Nothing in Georgia law prohibits it, and nothing spells out who can be a surrogate, what a surrogacy contract must include or how parentage is decided. A 2019 Georgia Law Review article described the state as having neither a surrogacy statute nor appellate case law on surrogacy agreements, and we're not aware of anything since that changes that picture.

Three Georgia laws often come up in searches, and none of them is a surrogacy law:

• The embryo adoption statute (O.C.G.A. 19-8-40 to 19-8-43). Passed in 2009, it lets the person with legal rights to an embryo give those rights to a recipient through a written agreement, with an optional court order. It's about who owns and parents a donated embryo. It doesn't mention a surrogate.
• The artificial insemination presumption (O.C.G.A. 19-7-21). It says a child conceived by artificial insemination is irrebuttably presumed legitimate if both spouses consented in writing. It's written for married couples having their own child, not for surrogacy.
• The 2025 IVF law (House Bill 428). Signed by Governor Kemp on May 1, 2025, it protects the right to IVF in Georgia. It came after the 2024 Alabama Supreme Court ruling on frozen embryos and was meant to keep IVF available here. It doesn't mention surrogacy, but because every gestational surrogacy pregnancy starts with IVF, it's reassuring background.

Attorney summaries of Georgia practice report that gestational surrogacy has been practiced in the state for more than 25 years, both compensated and expenses-only, with no legal cap on what a surrogate can be paid.

How parentage is settled

With no statute, the intended parents become the baby's legal parents through a court order from a Georgia superior court. Attorneys who practice in the state describe a few consistent patterns:

• Pre-birth orders are commonly granted. A judge declares the intended parents the legal parents before the birth, so the hospital can list them on the birth certificate. Post-birth orders and adoption are other routes.
• Practice varies by county and judge. Some judges hold a hearing and others don't. Which county hears the case usually depends on where the respondents live, and the respondents typically include you as the surrogate.
• A Georgia connection matters. Orders are generally available when the surrogate lives in Georgia or the baby is born here.
• Some situations are less settled. Orders are described as most straightforward when at least one intended parent is genetically related to the baby. Unmarried or single intended parents using donor eggs or sperm may need extra legal steps, and attorneys note that some counties have never issued these orders.

No Georgia appellate court has ruled on whether a surrogacy contract is enforceable. In practice, that means no higher court has tested how an agreement holds up if something goes wrong. Most journeys never come near a courtroom, but it's why Georgia attorneys are careful about how agreements are drafted and where the parentage case is filed. Our guide to what a pre-birth order is and why it matters explains the order itself.

What this means for you as the surrogate

When a state's law is thin, the protections in your journey come from your contract and your own lawyer. ASRM's guidance applies everywhere, and it's especially useful here:

• Your own attorney. ASRM says it is imperative that you and your spouse, if you have one, have independent legal counsel licensed in the applicable state, and its Ethics Committee says you must be free to choose your own counsel. The intended parents commonly pay for it.
• A signed contract before any treatment. ASRM recommends a fully executed agreement and a legal clearance letter before treatment begins.
• Your body, your decisions. ASRM's Ethics Committee says carriers are the sole source of consent for their own treatment and cannot be compelled to submit to or decline a procedure regardless of the contract.

One Georgia-specific point is worth knowing before you sit down with your attorney. Georgia's 2019 abortion law limits most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, and it applies to a surrogacy pregnancy like any other. Surrogacy contracts usually address prenatal testing, selective reduction and termination, so ask your attorney how Georgia law affects those sections, and make sure you and the intended parents talk through those scenarios honestly before you match. Our article on how the surrogacy contract is structured walks through the sections you'll review.

Who can be a surrogate in Georgia

Georgia law doesn't add eligibility rules of its own, so the usual program requirements apply. Most programs look for women between 21 and 42, with a BMI under 32 (a few programs accept up to 35), who have ideally had at least one term, uncomplicated pregnancy, and who are US citizens or permanent residents with no felony record. ASRM adds that a carrier should ideally have had no more than 5 previous deliveries or 3 previous cesareans. A couple of states don't allow paid surrogacy at all, but Georgia isn't one of them, and partner agencies regularly work with surrogates who live here. First-time surrogates typically earn $60,000 to $75,000 in total compensation, with all medical costs covered.

Where Borne fits

Borne is a matching service, not an agency. If you live in Georgia, our questionnaire takes about 10 minutes, and if you're a good fit, a 30-minute screening call follows. We connect qualified candidates with partner agencies that work in Georgia, and your agency can typically refer you to independent Georgia surrogacy attorneys, though the choice of attorney is yours.