International Surrogacy Births Hit a New Record

For every child born through surrogacy in Australia, around five children born overseas through surrogacy now apply for Australian citizenship by descent. That is the picture emerging from the latest figures discussed here. It is a striking comparison, even allowing for the fact that the domestic and international figures measure different things.

In the year ended 30 June 2026, 416 children born overseas through surrogacy applied for Australian citizenship by descent. That is a new record. The equivalent figures were 377 in 2025 and 376 in 2024. Meanwhile, the available estimate of births through surrogacy in Australia remains at roughly 90 a year.

The gap raises an uncomfortable question: why are so many Australian intended parents pursuing surrogacy overseas rather than at home?

How many children are born through surrogacy in Australia?

It sounds like a question with a straightforward answer. Unfortunately, the data needs some unpacking.

The Australian and New Zealand Assisted Reproduction Database, known as ANZARD, collects information from fertility clinics in both countries. Its figures cover gestational surrogacy, where the surrogate is not the child’s genetic parent. They do not capture every birth through traditional surrogacy, where the surrogate is also the genetic parent.

There is a second complication: the combined figure does not, by itself, give a separate Australian total. The New Zealand figure must be subtracted to estimate the Australian number.

On that basis, there were approximately 83 gestational surrogacy births in Australia during the 2024 calendar year. Adding an estimated four to eight traditional surrogacy births brings the total into the high 80s or around 90. It is an estimate, not a perfectly complete count, but it is a useful measure of the scale of domestic surrogacy.

What does the overseas figure measure?

The overseas numbers come from Australian Government data on children born through surrogacy abroad who apply for Australian citizenship by descent. The figures are obtained through freedom of information requests. Unlike the domestic clinic data, they appear to include both gestational and traditional surrogacy.

There is an important distinction here. The 416 figure counts citizenship applications in the year ended 30 June 2026. It should not be treated as a precise count of every child born overseas through surrogacy during those same 12 months. Nor is it directly equivalent to the Australian calendar-year birth estimate.

Even with those limitations, the direction of travel is clear. The reported overseas figure has risen across three successive reporting years:

• Year ended 30 June 2024: 376 children
• Year ended 30 June 2025: 377 children
• Year ended 30 June 2026: 416 children

For families navigating this process, an overseas birth is not the end of the paperwork. Australian citizenship by descent is a separate application. The Department of Home Affairs’ citizenship by descent information explains that pathway, while the legal arrangements surrounding a surrogacy journey need attention well before a child is born.

Where are Australian families pursuing surrogacy?

The United States remains the leading overseas destination in the 2026 figures, with 125 children. That is down from 137 in the preceding year, but it is still more than the estimated number of children born through surrogacy across Australia in 2024.

It is a remarkable comparison. The United States is described as the most expensive destination, yet more Australian children in this dataset are associated with surrogacy there than with surrogacy at home. Cost, clearly, has not stopped families from pursuing that path. Anyone considering surrogacy in the USA as an Australian intended parent needs to consider the full journey, not simply the arrangements up to the birth.

The six leading destinations in the year ended 30 June 2026 were:

• United States: 125 children
• Colombia: 61 children
• Georgia: 59 children
• Mexico: 34 children
• Canada: 24 children
• Ukraine: 22 children

Colombia moved into second place, while Georgia rose from 48 children in 2025 to 59 in 2026. Mexico remained almost unchanged, with 34 compared with 35 the year before. Canada recorded 24, up slightly from 22.

Ukraine’s numbers have also been notably steady across the three reporting years: 21 in 2024, 23 in 2025 and 22 in 2026. Those figures describe applications; on their own, they do not explain the circumstances of individual families or the choices they faced.

Changing destinations, changing questions

The country list does more than show which destinations are popular. It also shows how quickly intended parents can find themselves considering places where the practical and legal position may change.

Georgia is an example. A proposal in 2024 to prevent foreigners from undertaking surrogacy there was shelved, and its reported numbers have since risen. That does not mean a destination should be judged by its place in a ranking. It means families need reliable, current advice about the particular arrangement they are contemplating.

Demand has also continued across Argentina, Colombia and Mexico, although the figures presented here do not provide a separate 2026 total for Argentina. The broader point is that international surrogacy is not one uniform pathway. Circumstances differ from country to country, and yesterday’s assumptions should not be carried into today’s plans without checking them.

Armenia appears for the first time

Armenia is a new entry in the data. The Department of Home Affairs reports fewer than five children for that destination, rather than publishing an exact number, to protect privacy. It may represent only one child, but the data does not confirm that.

A first appearance in the figures is worth noting. It is not, however, evidence that a country has become an established or straightforward surrogacy option for Australians. Families considering surrogacy in Armenia should look closely at the legal risks before making commitments.

What the five-to-one comparison really tells us

The overseas-to-domestic ratio has often been described as roughly four to one. With 416 overseas citizenship applications in the latest reporting year and an Australian birth estimate of around 90, it is now closer to five to one.

That comparison comes with the measurement cautions already noted. One number concerns citizenship applications in a financial year; the other estimates births in a calendar year and cannot capture every domestic arrangement with equal certainty. The ratio is therefore an indication of scale, not a definitive accounting of every Australian surrogacy birth worldwide.

Still, the underlying message is difficult to miss. Overseas numbers have reached a record while the estimated number of Australian births through surrogacy has remained broadly similar. The United States alone accounts for more children in the latest overseas data than the estimated annual total at home.

More surrogacy taking place in Australia would mean fewer intended parents feeling they must pursue a path overseas. That is the hope behind these figures. For now, the data continues to show Australian families crossing borders to have children through surrogacy, and the distance between domestic and overseas numbers is growing.

About Stephen Page

Stephen Page is one of Australia’s leading surrogacy lawyers, a multi-award-winning practitioner and an accredited family law specialist at Page Provan Family & Fertility Lawyers. He advises intended parents on Australian and international surrogacy.