Is It Legal To Have 10 Children By Surrogacy At The Same Time?

(Image via Getty)

As we all know, pregnancy generally takes around nine months, plus recovery time. And humans aren't great at having much more than one or two children at once. That really limits how many children one person or couple can have at a time.

Or at least it used to.

Assisted reproductive technology and gestational surrogacy have changed what's possible for human reproduction. For those suffering medical or other obstacles, surrogacy can be a miracle solution to parenthood. Others, however, are pushing the limits on the possibilities provided by the new technology.

1,000 Children, Please

Japanese businessman Mitsutoki Shigeta made headlines in 2014 when Thai authorities discovered nine babies being cared for in a mostly unfurnished condo in Bangkok. The children were all genetically related to Shigeta, and born by surrogacy. Mariam Kukunashvili, a co-founder of the Thai fertility clinic that assisted Shigeta in finding surrogates, reported Shigeta to Thai authorities after Shigeta "revealed plans for more than 1,000 children." Kukunashvili and Thai authorities were concerned that Shigeta may be involved in human trafficking.

Yet a Thai court later awarded Shigeta custody of all nine of his children, in addition to other children who were genetically related to him, and found elsewhere. After hearing evidence, the court also found no evidence of human trafficking. So, a happy ending?

Not quite.

Shigeta's case was not the only one grabbing headlines as to the questionability of surrogacy. Another nightmare case around the same time. There, an Australian couple conceived twins via a Thai surrogate. After the twins' birth, reports came out that the parents returned to Australia with only one of the twins, leaving behind the other twin, who had been diagnosed with Down syndrome. (Although it later came to light that the parents tried to leave with both babies and were unable to.)

In 2015, Thailand responded by banning non-Thai citizens from paying Thai women to act as surrogates, including the potential of a 10-year prison sentence for violators. The result was a complete shutdown of Thailand's international surrogacy practices.

As frequently happens, when one country shuts down international surrogacy, another country sees a rise in business. In the past couple of decades, the Eastern European country of Georgia has seen surrogacy grow in popularity. But that looks like it may all end as well.

20 Kids In A Year

Shigeta isn't the only one to look to surrogacy to have a high number of children in a short time. One couple in Georgia has received media coverage over their fast-growing family. With the help of surrogates, the couple, Kristina and Galip Ozturk, have had 21 children in just over a year. And they have plans for additional children. Like Shigeta, the Georgia couple have the financial means to afford surrogacy, as well as a large staff to care for their growing families.

Georgia Closes Its Doors

Last month, Georgia introduced a bill to shut down compensated surrogacy in that country and to specifically exclude all international intended parents. Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili announced on June 12, 2023, that a bill was in progress to tightly regulate surrogacy in the country.

Unafraid of embracing homophobic rhetoric, Garibashvili specifically cited concerns that same-sex couples may be having children in Georgia, and taking them home. But others noted, as though it were a good thing, that there was already a process in place in Georgia preventing same-sex couples from accessing surrogacy services.

The new law in Georgia is expected to pass this fall. It prohibits women in Georgia from being compensated for surrogacy, limiting the practice only to "altruistic" surrogacy arrangements. It also prohibits Georgian women from carrying pregnancies for foreign couples starting in 2024.

That's bad news for couples like the Ozturks, who are unlikely to be as successful at finding willing surrogates if they are not permitted to pay them. Though at 21 kids, they can hopefully declare victory and be finished. The real issue is that the new Georgia law is bad news for international hopeful parents, who may be unable to afford the price tag in the United States for surrogacy.

US Guidelines

The United States has not turned a blind eye to the issue. In 2022, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) issued "Recommendations for practices using gestational carriers: a committee opinion." Among the list of criteria for rejection of intended parents is an "inability to maintain respectful and caring relationship with a gestational carrier," "ongoing legal disputes," and -- on point here -- "Intended parents' reproductive plan is to pursue concurrent pregnancies by embryo transfers to more than one gestational carrier or seeking concurrent pregnancies for a gestational carrier and intended parent."

Most fertility clinics in the United States are members of ASRM and committed to following ASRM guidelines and recommendations. So while it is not technically illegal to pursue multiple surrogacy pregnancies at once in the United States, it may now be difficult to find the medical providers to support the plan.

When intended parents take family-building to an extreme, the temptation can be to cast doubt on the appropriateness of surrogacy generally. But that is a misguided reflexive reaction. Regulation can solve the problem of those trying to build an army of children. But for those with limited options who turn to surrogacy for the hopes of a child, eliminating surrogacy means eliminating one of the most viable options to family formation.

So let's hope that stories likes the Ozturks' and Shegeta's don't ruin it for others.

Ellen Trachman is the Managing Attorney of Trachman Law Center, LLC, a Denver-based law firm specializing in assisted reproductive technology law, and co-host of the podcast I Want To Put A Baby In You. You can reach her at babies@abovethelaw.com.