Adoption in Georgia
Adoption in Georgia is when someone becomes the legal parent of a child under 18, taking the place of the child’s birth parents.
A short history: Adoption was banned by the Bolshevik government because it was seen as economically harmful. It became legal again in 1926 with financial incentives for adoptive parents. After World War II, many children were displaced or orphaned and adoption was strongly encouraged. Georgia joined the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1994.
What guides adoption in Georgia: Adoption is shaped by the Georgian constitution, international agreements, and domestic laws. The first major Georgian adoption law appeared in 1997, partly in response to more foreign adoptions starting in 1993. A new Law on Adoption and Foster Care was passed on December 18, 2009. Since Georgia’s independence, there have been more orphanages, and foster care began as a separate program in 2013. Foster care rules include that children over age 10 must consent to placement, and siblings should be kept together unless separating them is better for the children. Financial support for foster families varies based on their relationship to the child, the needs of the placement, and whether the child has disabilities.
Current political context: In March 2024, the ruling party proposed a bill that would limit the rights of LGBT Georgians, including banning adoption by same-sex couples. If passed, this could slow Georgia’s plans to join the European Union.
International adoption and law: Georgia’s 2012 law covers international adoptions, and Georgia is a party to the Hague Adoption Convention. International adoptions are also influenced by Georgia’s participation in global child-rights agreements.
Religion and ethics: The Georgian Orthodox Church and the National Council on Bioethics often promote adoption for childless couples over some assisted reproductive technologies, such as IVF and surrogacy. The Patriarch Ilia II has criticized ART as potentially harmful to society and a child’s development.
A real-world case and uncovering illegal practices: In 2021, journalist Tamuna Museridze learned she was adopted and started a public effort to find her birth family. Her work helped expose an illegal adoption market in Georgia that operated from the 1950s to 2005. It is estimated that as many as 100,000 infants were taken from their families during that period. Families were told the babies had died, but in many cases the babies were sold. Before Georgia’s independence, boys were reportedly sold for around 1,500 maneti and girls for about 1,000 maneti. After 1993, international adoptions became possible, and foreign families paid much higher prices for Georgian children, with reports around $20,000 for an infant in 2005.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 09:08 (CET).