Where Is Surrogacy Legal in 2026? World Map and Country Status Guide

Every few months, someone emails me with a screenshot of a surrogacy map they found online. Usually it's colour-coded, usually it looks authoritative, and usually, at least one country on it is wrong.

That's not always carelessness. Surrogacy law moves faster than most content gets updated. For example, Kazakhstan closed to international intended parents this month, and every map published before now is already out of date.

So here is mine, with two honest warnings attached.

First: a map cannot tell you whether you can do surrogacy in a country. It can only tell you whether somebody can. Georgia is legal, and closed to you if you're single or in a same-sex relationship. Canada is legal, and won't let you pay a surrogate. "Legal" is the beginning of the question, not the answer.

Second: this page will go out of date too. I update it whenever something actually changes rather than once a year, and I date-stamp it so you can see how fresh it is. But before you commit money or time to any destination on this page, verify it with a lawyer licensed in that country. Including, especially, if this page told you it was fine.

What changed recently

Kazakhstan closed to foreign intended parents (26 July 2026).

President Tokayev signed amendments restricting surrogacy to married couples who are citizens of Kazakhstan. International intended parents can no longer pursue programmes there. This also excludes single people and unmarried couples who are Kazakh citizens. Kazakhstan had become a significant route for intended parents from China in particular, and that route is now closed.

Argentina still has no specific surrogacy law. 

Under Article 562 of the Civil and Commercial Code, children born through assisted reproduction are legally considered the children of the person who gives birth and the person who provided prior, informed and free consent. A 2024 Supreme Court judgment did not establish a general route for replacing the gestational parent’s legal parentage with that of the intended parents. Several legislative proposals introduced in 2025 and 2026 seek to regulate surrogacy, but they remain bills and have not become law. 

Greece became effectively closed to non-residents. 

Since 16 May 2025, Greece has been effectively closed to international surrogacy applicants who do not reside in the country. Law 5197/2025 removed the previous possibility of relying on temporary residence and now requires both the intended mother and the surrogate to reside in Greece.

Georgia and Ukraine: still no changes. 

Georgia and Ukraine remain jurisdictions to watch, but their positions are different. Georgia introduced a 2023 assisted-reproduction bill that would have limited assisted reproduction, including surrogacy, to Georgian citizens, but that restriction was not enacted and the proposal appears to have stalled. Georgia’s current Health Care Law still contains its existing surrogacy provisions without the proposed citizenship restriction.

Ukraine previously considered a temporary ban on foreign access during martial law and for three years afterward, but Bill 6475-d was rejected and removed from consideration on 3 May 2023. A newer Ukrainian assisted-reproduction bill, 13683-1, remains under committee consideration, although it is not clear from the official parliamentary summary whether the surviving proposal contains the same restriction on foreign intended parents.

How to read this map

Most surrogacy maps sort countries by whether the law permits surrogacy. That's the wrong question for most of you, to be fair. What matters is whether you can access it, which depends on your relationship status, your sexual orientation, your passport, and sometimes your medical history.

So, let’s use six categories:

Category	What it means
Open/commercial	Legal, surrogates can be compensated, international intended parents accepted
Open/altruistic only	Legal, but the surrogate can only be reimbursed for expenses
Permitted through legal precedent	Surrogacy is not comprehensively regulated by specific legislation, but its legality and/or enforceability is supported by court decisions, constitutional rulings or established judicial precedent.
Restricted to citizens or residents	Legal domestically, closed to international intended parents
Unregulated/grey zone	No law permitting it, no law banning it — practised in legal uncertainty
Prohibited	Banned, sometimes criminally

Eligibility, or who actually qualifies, is a separate axis because a destination being "open" is meaningless if it's closed to your family structure.

Country status at a glance

Costs are indicative total programme ranges, not quotes. They exclude travel, extended stays, additional IVF cycles, and the contingencies that are the most common reason a budget doubles.

Country	Status	Who qualifies	Parentage established	Indicative cost
United States	Open/commercial (varies by state)	All family structures in surrogate-friendly states	Pre-birth order in most such states	$150,000–200,000+
Georgia	Open/commercial (monitor closely)	Heterosexual couples only	Intended parents named at birth	$60,000–90,000
Ukraine	Open/commercial (monitor closely)	Married heterosexual couples, medical indication required	Intended parents named at birth	50,000–75,000 EUR
Colombia	Permitted through legal precedent	All (apart from single women)	Court process	$50,000–70,000
Mexico	Permitted through legal precedent	All family structures	Court order; varies by state	$60,000–100,000
Armenia	Open/commercial	Married heterosexual couples, single women who can provide their own eggs, single men who can provide their own sperm, age limit until 55 years old	Intended parents named at birth	$50,000–70,000
Ghana	Open/commercial	Heterosexual couples, single men, single women	Pre-birth order model	$35,000–60,000
Canada	Open/altruistic	All family structures	Varies by province	$80,000–130,000
United Kingdom	Open/ altruistic	All family structures; residency requirement	Parental order after birth	£50,000–90,000
Greece	Restricted/ residency required	Effectively closed to non-residents	Court pre-approval	70,000–95,000 EUR
Kazakhstan	Restricted/ residency required	Married Kazakh citizens only	Immediate legal parentage	$50,000–70,000
Albania	Unregulated/grey zone	All (apart from single women)	Child born through surrogacy typically lists both the surrogate and the biological father	80,000–95,000 EUR
Cyprus	TRNC Unregulated, Republic of Cyprus Regulated	Republic of Cyprus: Heterosexual couples and single women (Cyprus residents ONLY)  TRNC: all (apart from single women)	Republic of Cyprus: intended parents are recognized as the legal parents at birth.TRNC: names the surrogate as the mother, and the genetic father as father.	55,000–85,000 EUR
Czech Republic	Unregulated/grey zone	Heterosexual couples, Single Men	Intended parents gain parentage via adoption. Commercial is strictly prohibited	85,000–105,000 EUR
Guatemala	Unregulated/grey zone	All (apart from single women)	Names the surrogate as the mother, and the genetic father as father.	$60,000–80,000
Argentina	Unregulated/grey zone	All (apart from single women)	Post-birth judicial recognition required for legal parentage.	$70,000–120,000

Six things a map cannot tell you

1. The host country's law is only half of your problem

Your own country decides whether it recognises the parentage you establish abroad. Plenty of intended parents complete a legally perfect surrogacy journey and then hit a wall at their own embassy.

Germany, France, Italy and Spain all restrict surrogacy at home and treat foreign surrogacy arrangements with varying degrees of hostility. Some countries recognise the genetic parent and require the second parent to adopt. Some require a court process before the child can enter. Before you choose a destination, find out what your own country requires. That requirement often narrows the list faster than anything else.

2. "Legal" doesn't mean "legal for you"

Georgia's law permits surrogacy and excludes single people and same-sex couples. Ukraine requires a marriage certificate and a documented medical indication. Armenia requires a genetic link between the child and at least one intended parent, which rules out double donation.

If a destination page or agency doesn't tell you the eligibility rules clearly and early, that's worth noticing.

3. A court precedent is not a statute

Colombia and Mexico both permit surrogacy through court decisions rather than comprehensive legislation. That's real legal ground, but it's a different kind of ground. Precedent can be distinguished, narrowed, or revisited, and it usually leaves more of the process in individual judges' hands.

I flag this because a lot of comparison content lumps "court-recognised" together with "statutory" under a single "regulated" label, and they don't carry the same risk.

4. A draft law is not a law and practice can change before the law does

Georgia's proposed restrictions on foreign intended parents have been discussed since 2023 without being enacted. It would be wrong to tell you Georgia is closed. It would also be wrong to tell you nothing is happening.

The practical risk isn't only legislative. Clinics and agencies adjust to anticipated changes before they arrive, quietly tightening who they accept, or declining to start new programmes. Ask providers directly what they're seeing, not just what the statute says.

5. A birth certificate is not a passport

Establishing parentage in the host country and getting your child home are two separate processes, and the second one is where journeys stall.

In Georgia, a child born to foreign intended parents may have no immediate citizenship until the relevant embassy acts. In Mexico, the picture is different. Birth on Mexican territory confers Mexican citizenship, which usually means a local birth certificate and passport are available. That difference matters enormously if something goes wrong with your embassy paperwork, and it rarely appears in cost comparisons.

Ask about exit timelines before you ask about price.

6. This map will go out of date

Kazakhstan is the proof. It was a functioning destination with an established legal framework, and now it isn't, with a matter of weeks between the announcement and the law taking effect.

If you're mid-journey somewhere when the law changes, transition arrangements for existing contracts, ongoing pregnancies and stored embryos become the most important detail in the country. They're also the detail that's usually least clear at the start.

Choose partly on legal stability, not only on current legality.

Before you choose a destination

If this page has done its job, you have a shorter list than you started with and more questions than answers. That's the right position to be in.

What I'd do next, in this order: confirm what your own country requires to recognise you as the parent; narrow to destinations where you actually qualify; and only then compare costs. Most people do this backwards, start with price, and lose months to a destination that was never going to work for their family.

I work independently. I don't represent agencies and I don't run programmes, which means I have no reason to steer you toward one destination over another, and no reason to tell you a country is fine when it isn't.

If you want a second opinion on a shortlist, a quote you've been given, or a country you've been recommended, book a free 30-minute Clarity Call or read more about how the surrogacy process works and the guidance packages available.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Surrogacy law varies by country and, in some cases, by state or province, and it changes. Always consult a lawyer licensed in the relevant jurisdiction before making decisions.