A recent report from Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty reveals that an increasing number of women in Central Asia are choosing to become surrogates as a means to help themselves out of poverty. It’s a telling look at how exploitative the surrogacy industry is, as impoverished women are sought for the lowest price possible to provide a baby for wealthy parents.
According to the video report, hundreds of women from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan are traveling to the country of Georgia, which is quickly becoming a surrogacy hub. Producers interviewed a 31-year-old woman from Kyrgyzstan who traveled to the Georgian capital of Tblisi to undergo IVF so she could carry twins for a Chinese couple. A single mother of three children, the woman admitted that poverty had driven her to choose to be a surrogate; as a surrogate for twins, she could make around $20,000.
“I started to build a house [in Kyrgyzstan] and have many debts. Yesterday, the clinic director gave me good news that they will pay off all my debts and told me not to worry…They will send me $600 per month,” she said.
Another single mother from Uzbekistan also admitted to being motivated by finances. “My kids will receive an education. I will build a house,” she said tearfully. “The most important thing is I need to renovate my house. We live in a house without windows and doors.”
While both women admitted to choosing surrogacy as a way to lift themselves out of poverty, they also both refused to give their names or be identified on camera because of the shame they felt in their situations. This desire to remain anonymous underscores the reality that the women understood they were being used for their childbearing abilities, and weren’t proud to show it.
Georgia has become a surrogacy leader in central Asia since the war in Ukraine has disrupted surrogacy there. However, the government recently announced it is considering plans to ban surrogacy for foreigners. One leader of a surrogacy company said she hopes the government does not pass such legislation, because she views surrogacy as a positive thing for impoverished women.
“I have witnessed many women suffering and many girls whose problems were solved after giving birth,” she said.
Though this statement is an attempt to paint surrogacy in a positive light, it instead highlights just how exploitative the practice is and how much more support women truly need and deserve in societies around the globe, without having to sell their bodies through things like prostitution and surrogacy to survive.
According to the report, people choosing to hire surrogates turn to Georgia because it is one of the cheapest nations in the world to find a surrogate. Meanwhile, surrogates are turning to the practice because it appears to be their only recourse for providing for the children they already have. As the interviewees demonstrated so clearly, surrogacy commodifies women and disrespects their human dignity — a woman should never feel forced to choose it just to provide for her family.
