Managing Stigma, Framing Labor: Transnational Surrogacy between Kazakhstan and Georgia

• In Event: Moral Economies of Reproduction in Central Asia and the Caucasus

Abstract

With Ukraine’s surrogacy market largely inaccessible, demand in Georgia has surged, prompting clinics to recruit women from Central Asia (including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan). Meanwhile, Kazakhstan, despite its regulated surrogacy market, remains hesitant to expand internationally due to legal restrictions and cultural and religious sensitivities. This paper examines how Central Asian women engage in surrogacy, both in Georgia and Kazakhstan, as a deliberate strategy for financial stability. Yet, surrogacy’s social acceptability remains precarious, shaped by entrenched norms around motherhood, family honor, and gendered labor. By exploring how surrogates frame their labor, manage secrecy, and navigate state and market pressures, the paper contributes to broader debates on reproductive work and mobility in Central Asia and the Caucasus.

Author

• Polina Vlasenko, U of Akron