The Minister of Justice clarifies who is affected by the Minister"s order on changes in the birth of a child through surrogacy. As Tea Tsulukiani says, the change does not concern in vitro ferilization, but the process of surrogacy.

“Behind this false information, in my opinion, are those private companies that receive very large financial benefits through bringing foreign couples in Georgia - when children are born in Georgia through surrogacy and then taken from the country…

No new rules are introduced in the process of artificial fertilization. This is false information and I want to urge all doctors not to scare patients.

The new rule that has been introduced concerns surrogacy. We have the following situation in surrogacy: 100% of surrogate mothers who place an embryo made of other biological material in their body in exchange for payment, are Georgian citizens while 98% of those who use surrogacy services in Georgia, are foreigners.

Therefore, the introduced new rule continues to interpret the couple as a woman and man again. In addition, the new rule is that we must prevent transnational crime of infant trafficking and prevent a child born in surrogacy in Georgia from becoming a subject of sexual exploitation, torture, and inhuman treatment, and prevent fictitious couples who give childbirth in Georgia for criminal purposes and take him/her outside Georgia.

We demand from September 1 that a foreign couple or a mixed couple who apply to the notary must live together for at least a year, with or without marriage, so that we have a couple who really want to have and raise a child, no matter if they have or do not have infertility problems. But, they have to have a child through surrogacy for raising purposes, not to take the child from Georgia and then to violate his/her rights”, - explained the Minister.