International surrogates recruited on social media face emotional control in Georgia's booming childbirth market

Georgia’s surrogacy boom has quietly become a laboratory for global reproductive labor, where digital recruitment meets economic desperation. Since 2022, the country’s surrogacy industry—once dominated by domestic clinics—has pivoted toward social media, targeting women from Central Asia with promises of quick earnings and minimal scrutiny. The shift reflects a broader pattern in global surrogacy: the outsourcing of reproduction to the Global South, where legal loopholes and lower costs create a market that thrives on inequality. But what makes Georgia’s model distinct is the speed and scale of its expansion, fueled by platforms like Instagram and TikTok, where ads for “surrogate mothers” blur into lifestyle content, obscuring the power dynamics at play. The emotional control exerted over surrogates is not incidental but systemic, a feature of an industry built on precarity. Many recruits arrive with limited access to legal recourse or financial cushioning, leaving them vulnerable to coercive practices—whether through delayed payments, abrupt contract changes, or psychological pressure to continue pregnancies under adverse conditions. This mirrors trends in other surrogacy hubs, from Ukraine to India, where commercialization has prioritized profit over autonomy. Yet Georgia’s location at the crossroads of Europe and Central Asia adds a geopolitical layer: its lax regulations have turned it into a haven for foreign intended parents, while its own economic struggles make local women easy targets for recruitment. What remains unclear is how long this system can sustain itself. Rising scrutiny from European human rights groups could tighten oversight, while economic shifts in Central Asia might reduce the pool of willing surrogates. Meanwhile, the long-term psychological toll on women—many of whom return home with trauma or financial instability—risks becoming an unaddressed crisis. The industry’s reliance on social media also raises questions about accountability: how do platforms profit from these ads, and what ethical frameworks govern their moderation? As Georgia’s surrogacy market grows, it forces a reckoning with who bears the human cost of reproductive tourism—and who gets to profit from it undisturbed.