Countries Closed to International Surrogacy: A 2026 Guide for Intended Parents
Ten years ago, an intended parent looking for an affordable surrogacy program could choose between India, Thailand, Nepal, Cambodia and, a little later, russia. Today, none of those countries accept foreign intended parents. In the last two years alone, Argentina, Greece and Kazakhstan have joined the list, and several of the destinations still open in 2026 have bills in parliament that could close them as well.
This is not a coincidence. A 2026 review of cross-border surrogacy trends by Sam Everingham of Growing Families found that restrictions on foreign intended parents have been attempted in 14 countries that attracted international surrogacy, and enacted in nine of them. The author expects access to keep shrinking.
This guide covers which countries have closed, which ones are under pressure right now, why closures happen, and what you can do to protect your journey if the country you choose changes its law halfway through. If you want a status overview of every destination instead, see our guide to where surrogacy is legal in 2026.
Which countries are closed to international surrogacy in 2026?
As of October 2026, these countries no longer accept international intended parents:
Country | When it closed | Who can still access surrogacy | What triggered it |
India | 2015 (law in 2021) | Indian couples, altruistic only | Exploitation concerns |
Nepal | 2015 | Not a destination for foreigners | Supreme Court order, no legal framework |
Thailand | 2015 | Thai couples, or couples with a Thai spouse | Baby Gammy and other scandals |
Cambodia | 2016 | No legal surrogacy | Fast, unregulated growth after Thailand closed |
russia | 2022 | russian citizens, or couples with a russian spouse | Politics and child-trafficking claims |
Argentina | 2024 to 2025 (effectively) | Only through court cases with split outcomes; not recommended | Supreme Court ruling and criminal investigations |
Greece | 2025 | Greek residents | Criminal case against a large clinic |
Kazakhstan | 2026 | Married Kazakh citizens | Disputes and litigation involving foreigners |
Under pressure but still open: Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia and Colombia. In the United States, surrogacy itself is not restricted, but a 2026 executive order targeting citizenship for some surrogacy babies is being challenged in court.
The countries that have closed
India (2015)
India was the world's best-known surrogacy destination until 2015. That October, the government told the Supreme Court it had barred foreign nationals from commissioning surrogacy, after years of reports that surrogates were not being consulted about their own medical care. The Surrogacy (Regulation) Act 2021 then banned commercial surrogacy entirely. Only altruistic arrangements remain, for eligible Indian couples.
Nepal (2015)
When India closed, agencies moved to Nepal, where Nepali women were not allowed to act as surrogates but foreigners could bring in surrogates from elsewhere. In August 2015, Nepal's Supreme Court suspended commercial surrogacy services for foreigners, pointing out that the country had no surrogacy law at all. Families with pregnancies already under way were eventually allowed to leave with their babies, and Nepal has not become a destination for foreign intended parents again.
Thailand (2015)
Thailand's ban followed a string of scandals, including the Baby Gammy case, and a law banning commercial surrogacy came into force in July 2015. Today, only foreigners married to Thai citizens qualify.
This may be the one closure that partly reverses. A draft amendment would let foreign married couples apply again, but only under strict conditions, including a minimum length of marriage and a surrogate of the same nationality as one of the intended parents. As of August 2026, the bill was still in public consultation and had not reached the cabinet. Until it is law, Thailand is closed.
Cambodia (2016)
Cambodia filled the gap Thailand left behind, briefly. In November 2016, the government imposed a ban on all surrogacy, leaving many foreign couples unable to get travel documents for their babies. There is still no surrogacy law, so the authorities use human trafficking laws instead, with heavy prison sentences. As recently as December 2024, a Cambodian court jailed 13 pregnant Filipino surrogates in a trafficking case. Any agency still offering Cambodia is offering an illegal program.
russia (2022)
russia was a major destination for intended parents from China and elsewhere until December 2022, when a new federal law banned foreigners from using surrogacy. Only russian citizens qualify, plus couples where one spouse is russian.
Argentina (2024 to 2025)
Argentina never passed a ban. It didn't need to. For a few years, families in Buenos Aires could register children born through surrogacy without going to court, and thousands of foreign intended parents followed. In October 2024, the Supreme Court ruled that under the Civil Code the mother is the woman who gives birth. Direct registration stopped, prosecutors opened trafficking investigations against clinics and agencies, and some families were stopped at the border with their babies. The recent review describes the market as decimated by early 2025. Courts are now split in both directions: the first criminal indictments came in May 2026, while a federal appeals court in June 2026 ruled that surrogacy itself is not trafficking. For new intended parents, that uncertainty is the problem. For the full picture, see our Argentina surrogacy page.
Greece (2025)
Greece was one of the few EU options, and foreigners used it widely. In May 2025, after a criminal investigation into a clinic in Crete, Article 46 of Law 5197/2025 made court approval conditional on both the intended mother and the surrogate being legal residents of Greece. Cases already heard in court continued under the old rules, but new applications fall under the residency requirement. Some clinics still market Greek programs to foreigners, so read our Greece surrogacy guide on the gap between the law and what is being sold before you sign anything.
Kazakhstan (2026)
The most recent closure. In July 2026, the President signed Law No. 350-VIII, and from 26 July 2026 surrogacy is restricted to legally married Kazakh citizens. The published transitional provisions don't say what happens to agreements signed before that date. We've broken down what the Kazakh law actually says and what it means for people already in a program, and our Kazakhstan page lists the alternatives.
Countries where access is under threat in 2026
None of these countries are closed today. All of them have shown, in the last few years, that they could be.
Ukraine. Ukraine remains open to married heterosexual couples with a medical indication, but there are two bills registered in August 2026 that could change that. Draft Law 15507 would limit surrogacy to couples where at least one spouse is a Ukrainian citizen with three years of permanent residence. A separate government bill from 2025 points in the same direction. None has been adopted yet. See our Ukraine surrogacy page for the details.
Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyzstan has quietly become one of the few places accepting single foreign intended parents. Of the 153 surrogacy births registered there in 2024 and 2025, 138 were to foreign citizens. In August 2026, the Speaker of parliament put forward a draft law that would bar foreigners from surrogacy entirely, alongside tougher penalties for child trafficking. It is in public discussion and not yet law, but anyone considering Kyrgyzstan should treat it as a serious risk.
Georgia. In 2023, Georgia's government announced that surrogacy would be limited to Georgian citizens from January 2024. The ban was never enacted and is on hold, but it hasn't been withdrawn either. Our Georgia surrogacy page covers the current rules, and we track developments in our Georgia updates article.
Colombia. Colombia allows surrogacy through court rulings rather than a dedicated law, which makes it vulnerable. Bills to ban or restrict it have been filed repeatedly in 2025 and 2026, and none has become law so far. We explain where things stand in Is Colombia closing to surrogacy?, and our Colombia surrogacy page covers the current process.
United States. Surrogacy in the US is not closing. However, Executive Order 14418 of August 2026 would deny US citizenship to some babies born through commercial surrogacy when neither intended parent is a US citizen. On 2 September 2026, a federal court in Maryland blocked enforcement with a preliminary injunction, and the case continues. Foreign intended parents should plan on the assumption that their baby's travel document will come from their own country. Our US surrogacy page covers citizenship and travel documents for international parents.
Closures can be reversed
Restrictions don't always survive. In 2016, the Mexican state of Tabasco limited surrogacy to married heterosexual Mexican couples. The Mexican Supreme Court later struck that down as discriminatory against foreigners, unmarried people and LGBTQ+ couples. Georgia's 2023 publicly announced ban is still on hold.
Mexico has since become a destination again (see our Mexico surrogacy page), but the families affected in 2016 had no way of knowing it would turn out that way.
Why do countries close their doors?
Looking at a decade of closures, the same pattern repeats almost every time:
A low-cost market grows fast, usually without a dedicated surrogacy law, and attracts large numbers of foreign intended parents.
A scandal or criminal case hits the news: an abandoned baby, a raided clinic, surrogates found living in poor conditions, or trafficking charges.
Politicians respond quickly, often with a ban on foreigners rather than better regulation, sometimes with very little notice.
The wider climate is pushing in the same direction. In 2024, the Vatican called for a universal prohibition of surrogacy, and a 2025 report by a UN Special Rapporteur recommended that states work towards eliminating it altogether. War, falling birth rates and demographic anxiety also feature in the debates in Ukraine and Kazakhstan. These arguments don't go away when one bill fails, which is why the same proposals keep coming back.
What happens to journeys in progress when a country closes?
This is the question I get most often, and the honest answer is: it depends entirely on how the law is written, and you won't know until it is published.
Some closures protect families already in the system. Nepal allowed couples with ongoing pregnancies to leave with their babies, and Greece let cases already heard in court continue under the old rules.
Some leave families in limbo. When Cambodia banned surrogacy, many couples could not get travel documents for children who had already been born.
Some say nothing at all. Kazakhstan's 2026 law doesn't address agreements signed before it took effect, leaving families to get answers from lawyers and agencies.
Some offer a deadline. Ukraine's Draft Law 15507, as reported, would give contracts already signed with foreigners nine months to be brought into line with the new rules.
What you can do before you sign:
Ask in writing what happens to your contract, your payments and your embryos if the law changes. If the agency has no answer, that is your answer. Our list of questions to ask a surrogacy agency is a good place to start.
Know where your embryos are stored and whether they can be moved. Having a plan for shipping embryos internationally can save a journey if a destination closes. Check the import rules of your plan B country too: Colombia, for example, tightened its embryo import rules in 2026.
Don't pay everything up front. Payment plans tied to milestones limit your losses if a program stops, or if the agency itself closes. Here is what to do if your surrogacy agency folds.
Your home country can close the door too
Closures don't only happen in destination countries. Ireland's Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act 2024 allows only altruistic surrogacy and penalises commercial arrangements, including those abroad. In October 2024, Italy passed a law making surrogacy a "universal crime", so Italian citizens can be prosecuted even when the surrogacy takes place in a country where it is legal.
Other countries, such as Germany, don't criminalise parents but make recognising the child's parentage much harder. If that applies to you, read our guide to surrogacy for German intended parents. Whatever your nationality, check your own country's rules before you look at destinations, not after.
The hidden side effect: surrogates moved across borders
When destinations close but demand doesn't fall, the market finds workarounds, and some of them are dangerous. The Everingham review describes agencies bringing women from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan to act as surrogates in lower-cost programs in Georgia, Armenia and North Cyprus. It cites a study showing that as early as 2019, only around 20% of surrogates working in Georgia were Georgian citizens.
But not every cross-border arrangement should be treated as a red flag. In Armenia, for example, the law itself allows only non-Armenian women to carry for international intended parents, so travel surrogates are part of a standard process.
If an agency tells you the surrogate will come from a different country than the clinic, or that the birth will happen in a third country, stop and ask why.
Where can international intended parents still go in 2026?
The list is shorter than it used to be. According to the Everingham review, as of September 2026 only four countries in the wider European region have laws that let foreign intended parents be named on the birth certificate after surrogacy: Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. Each comes with limits: the war in Ukraine, small surrogate pools and cultural resistance in Georgia and Armenia, and limited IVF infrastructure in Kyrgyzstan and Armenia.
For single intended parents, the options are narrower still. Armenia accepts single men and women who can provide their own gametes. Kyrgyzstan also accepts singles, but with the bill described above now in public discussion. Unregulated countries such as Albania are still used, mainly as one stage of a hybrid journey, but there the surrogate is named on the birth certificate and parentage runs through the genetic father. Outside Europe, intended parents still use the United States, Canada (altruistic only), Mexico, Colombia and Ghana, each with its own risks and requirements.
How to choose a destination that is likely to stay open
No one can promise that a country will still be open in 18 months. What you can do is avoid the mistakes I see most often in international surrogacy journeys. Some are listed in the guide to common mistakes in international surrogacy.
If you are trying to work out which destination makes sense for your family right now, our destination questionnaire is a quick starting point. You can also book a free call with Olga to talk it through with someone who follows these changes every week.
FAQ
Which countries have banned surrogacy for foreigners?
As of October 2026, India, Nepal, Thailand, Cambodia, Russia, Greece and Kazakhstan no longer accept foreign intended parents, and Argentina has effectively closed since its Supreme Court's October 2024 ruling. Thailand allows foreigners only if they are married to a Thai citizen.
Which countries still allow surrogacy for foreigners in 2026?
Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan are the only countries in the wider European region whose laws let foreign intended parents be named on the birth certificate. Outside Europe, foreigners still use the United States, Canada (altruistic only), Mexico, Colombia and Ghana. Eligibility differs a lot by family type, and Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan both have bills pending that would restrict foreigners.
Can a country close to surrogacy in the middle of my journey?
Yes. It has happened in India, Nepal, Cambodia, Greece and Kazakhstan. Whether ongoing journeys are protected depends on the transitional rules in each new law, so ask your provider in writing how a law change would affect your contract, payments and embryos.
Is Ukraine closing to international surrogacy?
Not at the moment. Draft Law 15507, registered in August 2026, would limit surrogacy to couples with a Ukrainian spouse who has lived in Ukraine for three years. It has not been voted on as of October 2026.
Will Thailand reopen surrogacy to foreigners?
Possibly, but not soon. A draft amendment would allow foreign married couples under strict conditions, including a surrogate of the same nationality as one of the intended parents. As of August 2026 it was still in public consultation and had not been approved by the cabinet.
Source note: The country timeline in this guide draws on Everingham S., "Trends in Access to Cross-border Surrogacy in Europe and Globally", Medical Research Archives, 2026, 14(10), doi:10.18103/mra.2026.0631, published under a CC-BY licence. It is supplemented with the news, legal and court sources linked throughout. This article is general information, not legal advice.
