AZE.US
Azerbaijani women are being offered up to 28,900 manats ($17,000) to carry babies for foreign couples, according to an investigation into the cross-border surrogacy business.
The women are recruited through social media, while medical procedures, pregnancy monitoring and childbirth are arranged in neighboring Georgia, where surrogacy programs operate legally.
Azerbaijan currently has no specific legal framework regulating surrogacy. The report says intermediaries are using this legal vacuum to recruit women in Azerbaijan and send them to clinics in Tbilisi.
A BakuPost.az journalist contacted representatives of one such company while posing as a potential surrogate. She was told that compensation depended on the woman’s age:
- Ages 20 to 30 – $17,000;
- Ages 31 to 35 – $16,000;
- Ages 36 to 38 – $15,000.
Participants are also promised monthly payments of $400, along with additional compensation for the embryo transfer, confirmation of a fetal heartbeat, reaching certain stages of pregnancy, a cesarean section or carrying twins.
Women who fully comply with medical instructions may also receive several bonuses during the pregnancy.
However, applicants must initially cover some expenses themselves. After completing a 26-question form, a prospective surrogate must undergo an ultrasound examination on specific days of her menstrual cycle. The procedure costs at least 50 manats.
Intermediaries reportedly require a video of the ultrasound monitor showing the uterus, ovaries and endometrium. If the results are accepted, the woman is offered travel to Tbilisi, insurance and additional medical examinations.
According to the recruiters, the biological parents are usually wealthy couples from China or European countries. The identities of both sides are disclosed only when the contract is signed.
“You will not see the baby for even a second after the birth. The child is immediately handed over to the biological parents,” one company representative told the journalist.
Women are promised accommodation, food, medication and medical support throughout the pregnancy. Those who remain healthy may sign a second or even third contract.
One Azerbaijani woman interviewed while staying in Tbilisi said she had agreed to become a surrogate because she owed 20,000 manats. She told her husband and children that she had traveled to Georgia for professional training.
At the time of the interview, she was five weeks pregnant after a second embryo transfer. Her family did not know the real reason for her trip.
The investigation warned that such arrangements carry serious medical, psychological and financial risks. Women may face withheld payments, pressure or threats from intermediaries.
In July, a Georgian court sentenced two founders of the surrogacy company Kinderly to 10 years in prison for misappropriating more than $780,000. The company had signed agreements with prospective parents and recruited surrogate mothers but allegedly failed to provide women with the payments required under their contracts.
The victims reportedly included women from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine. Georgian human rights advocates said some were recognized as potential victims of human trafficking.
Another case under investigation involves approximately 100 women from Thailand who were reportedly brought to Georgia after being promised between $12,000 and $17,000 for becoming surrogates. Some later alleged that they were forced to undergo repeated egg-retrieval procedures.
The absence of clear regulations in Azerbaijan and reliance on foreign intermediaries can leave women with little legal protection. What begins as a promise of tens of thousands of dollars may end in financial loss, serious health risks or involvement in a criminal scheme.
AZE.US