1. Commercial surrogacy vs Altruistic Surrogacy vs. civilian guerrillas

① Commercial surrogacy

It's very simple, it's what everyone understands as "normal surrogacy": you pay the money, the surrogate mother provides the uterus, the agency coordinates, the doctor is in charge of the technology, the lawyer does the contract, and all of them are clearly marked and protected by the law.

Reality:There are only a few actual ones in this part of Europe that actually allow commercial surrogacy and are historically open to foreigners:Ukraine, Georgia, individual small countries.In most other European Union countries, the prohibition of "profiting from the uterus" is included directly.

② Altruistic Surrogacy

This sounds noble - a surrogate mom helping you have a baby "out of love": the law only allows you to be reimbursed for reasonable expenses during the pregnancy (travel, nutrition), and prohibits "salary compensation"! The law prohibits "salary-based compensation".

It may seem "humane", but the reality is this: in a high-welfare country like the UK, the Netherlands or Scandinavia, who would risk an advanced pregnancy to give birth to a stranger with no income and only reimbursement?

The conclusion is grim: for most Chinese families needing to find a strange surrogate mother, "altruistic surrogacy" ≈ "forget it."

③ Civilian guerrillas (gray area)

There is also a way to play: national law is not clearly written "allowed", not clearly written "prohibited", clinics, small intermediaries will play ball: "Anyway, no one cares, we will do it again. " This can be seen in some Eastern European and small island countries.

Where's the risk?In the event of a dispute (surrogate mother backs out, documents don't come through, local court attitude changes), you find that there is no clear law to support you at all - everyone will either show their hands or let you take your own time with the lawsuit. For families who have to take their children back to China and settle their hukou, this uncertainty really can't be offset by making a few extra tens of thousands of dollars.

🔴 Red light districts: banned completely, don't even think about it

Start by crossing those names off the list:🇫🇷 France, 🇩🇪 Germany, 🇮🇹 Italy, 🇪🇸 Spain, 🇨 🇭 Switzerland, 🇸🇪 Sweden, 🇳🇴 Norway ......

Instead of "not encouraging it", these countries are clearly on the side of opposing surrogacy: they consider commercial surrogacy to be "exploitation of women" and "commodification of babies"; and their legislation and jurisprudence are very harsh on any form of surrogacy contract. The legislation and jurisprudence of the judiciary are very strict on any form of surrogacy contract.

Especially Italy:In 2024, the so-called "universal crime" bill was passed, making it possible for Italian citizens to be prosecuted, fined and even jailed back home, even if they had legalized their surrogacy in the United States or Canada.

👉 In these countries, there is no need to fantasize about "I have a local doctor".Once justice is actually involved, the child will probably be taken over by the state welfare system and you won't even have a place to cry.

🟡 The yellow light district: altruistic "looks good" only

This is the area where Chinese families are most likely to be misled by advertisements.

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

• The law allows surrogacy, but only altruistic surrogacy;
• Commercial brokers are illegal, and you theoretically have to find a surrogate mom on the forum yourself;
• At the time of the child's birth, the legal "mother" is the surrogate mother and the father is usually the surrogate mother's spouse;
• You have to apply for a Parental Order within 6 months of the birth to 'transfer' the child.

🇳🇱 Netherlands / 🇧🇪 Belgium / Selected Nordic countries

• It's also a classic altruistic model;
• It is usually open only to residents of the country and only in a very small number of cases with "serious medical indications".

👉 The Surrogate's House was honest enough to say one thing:The systems in these countries are designed to address the extreme needs of a very small number of families in their own countries, and are not reserved for foreigners to use as a "surrogate immigration conduit".

🟢 The Green Lantern District: a few places that are really strongly relevant to Chinese families

After eliminating the red & yellow lights, what's left is really the names you hear most often in the marketplace:

• Belarus
• Georgia (country)
• Greece
• and"Russian IVF + Surrogacy in Kyrgyzstan"This combination of routes (technically, Kyrgyzstan is already considered Central Asia, but in actual projects it is often categorized as "peripheral Europe").

We'll take them apart one by one later.

1️⃣ Ukrainian Surrogacy:

If there was no war, Ukraine would have been the first country I would have recommended to you by the head.

The law is very clear: commercial surrogacy is legal, the child's birth certificate is written directly in the name of the intended parents, the surrogate mother is not admitted to the household, and the parental authority is extremely stable.

Mature medical care: The density of fertility centers in Kiev is comparable to that of the monthly child care centers in the first-tier cities. The price is only about 1/3-1/4 of the price in the United States.

But the reality of 2025 is that the war is not over.

• The entry and exit of embryos/sperm is done through "transit points" such as Poland and then through the medical cold chain into Ukraine;
• Inevitably, there will be air raid sirens during pregnancy, and surrogate mothers will need to move according to the plan;
• After the baby is born, you will have to find a way to travel to Ukraine or pick up the baby in a neighboring country, which is a risky and psychologically stressful journey.

Extended reading: for a systematic understanding of local policies and prices, you can refer to theSurrogacy process in Ukraine in 2024 explained in detail (full version)".

2️⃣ Georgia Surrogacy:

Over the past two or three years, a large number of families that were headed for Ukraine have shifted to Georgia.

Why is it hot?

• The legal structure is very similar to that of Ukraine: commercial surrogacy is allowed, it is open to foreign married heterosexual couples, and birth certificates are directly in the names of the intended parents.
• Relatively safe, not on the war front; slightly less expensive than Ukraine.

The problem is also obvious:

• The government has been discussing a bill to restrict commercial surrogacy by foreigners in order to get closer to the European Union;
• In 2023-2024, there were many rumors of "closing the door", and until now (2025), the game is still being played, although not completely banned, but the general direction is to tighten.

Extended reading on the latest bans and policy direction can be seen in the2025 The truth about Georgia's surrogacy ban: can it still be done?".

3️⃣ Surrogacy in Greece: paying for "certainty under EU law"

Greece is a very special presence: one of the few EU countries that legally allows foreigners to go down the surrogacy route; a court-licensed system is used: you have to ask a lawyer to give you and the surrogate mother's information to the court first, and the judge decides that you're eligible before the doctor is allowed to do the implantation on the surrogate mother.

Pros:The court judgement is backed up by a very stable parental authority and a high degree of recognition within the EU system; the whole process is formal and predictable.

The downside is also deadly:The cycle time is so slow as to make people doubt their lives: it may take more than half a year just to wait for the judgment; it is common for the whole project to run for two or three years; the threshold is high, and there is strict scrutiny of medical indications.

4️⃣ Russian surrogacy: local surrogacy is closed to foreigners, but "in vitro + embryo" is still valuable!

Let's start with the conclusion: today, in 2025, it is illegal for a foreigner to go to Russia to be a local surrogate.

Starting in 2022, the new law explicitly prohibits surrogacy services for foreigners; many professional agencies have also voluntarily withdrawn from surrogacy programs for foreign clients.

But this does not mean that "Russia has lost its significance in assisted reproduction". The reality is that Russia is still very strong in the field of IVF, egg supply and embryo culture: there are many mature IVF centers in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and the hardware of their laboratories is not inferior to that of Western Europe; the egg supply is relatively abundant, which is suitable for the families of advanced age and weak ovarian function; the provision of PGT-A and other embryo screening, and more embryos out of the insemination of the "best of the best". "The laboratory hardware is inferior to that of Western Europe.

So, now comes an increasingly common play in the marketplace - theCombined route "Russian IVF + Kyrgyz surrogacy".

5️⃣ Russian IVF + Kyrgyz surrogacy: a budget-friendly combination

Strictly speaking, Kyrgyzstan is Central Asia, not Europe. But because it explicitly permits surrogacy by law and is often packaged with "Russian in vitro", many families think of it as "Plan B for European surrogacy".

Let's start with the legal foundations:

• The Law on the Protection of Citizens' Health, updated in 2024, explicitly enshrines assisted reproduction and surrogacy in the law, allowing for the realization of reproductive rights through surrogacy;
• The law applies to "citizens, foreigners and stateless persons permanently or temporarily residing in the territory of Kyrgyzstan".
• Explicitly allow the use of third-party assisted reproductive technologies, such as egg and sperm donation, and support compensation for surrogate mothers under compliant contracts.

For a more nuanced look at local legal provisions, see theA Complete Guide to Surrogacy Law 2025 in Kyrgyzstan".

True feelings on this side of the surrogate's home:Medical hardware is definitely not as good as in big cities in Europe and the United States, and it's not fair to say that it's like wartime Ukraine or underground Southeast Asia; the legal framework is actually much clearer than in many gray countries, and it's all about whether the organizations and law firms you choose are reliable or not; we've been following and witnessing many complete "Russian IVF + G surrogacy" projects in the past two years. In the past two years, we have witnessed a number of "Russian IVF + surrogacy" complete projects, the overall closed loop is running through.

The underlying logic of this "combined route" is:

• IVF in Russia:Ovulation, egg/seminal retrieval, embryo culture, donor egg + PGT; through a qualified cold chain company, theMedical transfer of embryos to Kyrgyzstan IVF Center;
• It's done on the Yoshi side:Selection of a surrogate mother, transplantation, maternity testing and management during pregnancy, delivery, paternity testing, birth certificate and return papers.

This is not a "clandestine shipment of embryos behind customs' backs", but rather a formal medical transfer between two compliant medical institutions, in accordance with the regulations. This is legally and technically feasible as long as the documentation is complete and the link is clear.

Costs:

Roughly give you a range (it varies a lot from organization to organization, just for your budgeting reference):

• Russian IVF + egg donor + PGT:Roughly in the range of $8,000-$17,000 (excluding travel expenses);
• Gilchrist Surrogacy Master Package:Most of what we see is $60,000-$100,000 USD Full process (including compensation for surrogate mother, medical care during pregnancy, attorney, etc.);
• Embryo cold chain + misc:Usually in the thousands of dollars level.

Overall, a complete program for Russia + Kat will cost you about 70,000-110,000 USD range.

If you're primarily concerned with budgetary details, look again at theGilchrist Surrogacy Costs 2025 Fully Explained: Is $60-$100,000 Enough?" This article is dedicated to breaking down the numbers.

1. Married heterosexual couples: almost the only main target group

Ukraine, Georgia, and Greece all write something similar in the first line of the legal text, "Applies to married heterosexual couples where at least one of the partners is genetically linked to the child."

You need to prepare:

• Real marriage license;
• Hague certification of the marriage certificate (good thing China has joined the convention in 2023, the process is simpler than before);
• Medical diagnostic certificates: especially in countries such as Greece and Ukraine, it is usually necessary to prove that the woman is unable to conceive safely, not just "I don't want to give birth on my own".

2. Single & LGBT families: the European route is largely off the table.

The reality is harsh: most European countries do not recognize same-sex marriages; the major legal countries in Eastern Europe are largely closed to singles & same-sex couples.

Most of the agents in the market who sell the "Czech Republic, Cyprus, Northern Cyprus" route to singles/gays rely on: gray operations (fake marriages, fake documents); or a complete lack of clarity in the law.

For Chinese families, it's not just a matter of "trouble settling down in your home country later", but also the possibility of stepping into the crossroads of criminal law in multiple countries - in serious cases, the children, you, and your personal freedom, may all be at risk.

👉 If you are single or in a gay family, a more realistic option than "walking the tightrope" in Europe is often the US / some Latin American countries (e.g. Colombia, etc.).

If you're looking for a way out of your single status, start by watching the2025 Single Surrogacy Complete Guide: Prices, Legal Countries RecommendedIf you are a gay or lesbian family, it is recommended that you also check against theLGBT Same-Sex Family Surrogacy Prices, Which Countries Support Legal Surrogacy?"Evaluating Together.

3. Additional "repatriation bugs" for Chinese families to consider

In addition to the laws of the destination country, you have to look at the reality on the Chinese end:

• Children are born in U/G and mostly return home with a Chinese travel permit;
• When you return to your home country to settle down, the police station will probably ask for a paternity test and check your immigration records;
• If you go to a country that is gray or has no legal basis at all, if the other party asks for "the other party's information" and you can't get it, you're likely to be stuck in a long tussle.

① Could seriously consider Ukraine / Georgia / Greece / Russia + Gee, if:

• You are a married heterosexual couple;
• The budget is between 400,000 and 600,000 CNY (U.S./Georgia), or 500,000 and 800,000 CNY (Russia+Georgia);
• Acceptance of political / war "force majeure" variables;
• Be willing to put in the effort to pick an organization that really understands the law and has experience on the ground.

② It is more suitable to run directly to the US / Canada full set if:

• You're single / in a same-sex couple;
• Or the requirements for "absolute legal certainty, a mature federal system, and a passport bonus for the child" are very high;
• The budget is more than 1 million RMB. (For more information on the budget structure, see first theU.S. Surrogacy Cost Breakdown 2025 Full Explanation"Hit the bottom.)

③ Not really recommended to bet on Europe if:

• You are single / gay - the legal space is extremely narrow in Europe;
• You can't sleep on any images of artillery fire on the news - then Ukraine is not for you;
• You are very sensitive to future policies and do not want to suffer the heartbreak of "Georgia's overnight turn".

If your budget is above 1 million RMBand extremely concerned about legal stability, wanting passport bonuses for their children -The United States remains the preferred destination.

If your budget is between 400,000 and 600,000 RMBand a married heterosexual couple that can accept a certain amount of political/war risk -Ukraine, Georgia, Greece + Russian IVF + GI surrogacy are the key options that still exist.

If you are single / same-sex partner(math.) genusDon't pin your hopes on Europe.A more realistic option would be US / Canada / some Latin American countries.