Start with the exact legal entity and the authority of its signer. A brand, stamp, job title or shared office is insufficient on its own. This guide separates company obligations, intermediary conduct, payment collection and patient rights. Its practical checks support document preparation; they do not decide the validity or eligibility of any particular surrogacy arrangement.
Legal support for this matter: Commercial Contract Review
Three questions before signing
Separate three questions in a surrogacy-related service arrangement: who undertakes the obligation, who signs for that person, and who actually performs the work. An agency may introduce a client to a clinic, or undertake defined services itself. An interpreter may organise appointments without being authorised to amend prices. A doctor providing care may have no authority to confirm the agency's financial promises. Look at the parties clause, signature block, registry information and authority documents together. A shared logo or office answers none of these questions conclusively.
Create a working table linking each important promise to a legal name, identification number, performer and payment recipient. Mark which entries are documented and which remain verbal. Civil Code Articles 103–104 provide the representation framework; applying it requires the actual signature, authority and conduct. This distinction matters when one Chinese-speaking coordinator presents several organisations as a single programme, while invoices and agreements identify different businesses. Resolve that discrepancy before treating every organisation as jointly responsible.
Official sources: Civil Code: representation · National Agency of Public Registry
Identify the legal entity behind the brand
Request the registered Georgian name and identification number, not only an English trading name. Use those details to check the relevant Public Registry record. Save the dated extract and downloaded version. For an agreement signed previously, today's extract may not establish the position on the signing date; registration documents or historical information may be needed. Keeping the identification number also helps follow a company that later changes its name.
Compare the address, legal form, representation entry and agreement details. A spelling difference may be translation; a different identification number may mean a different entity. Where a foreign partner is involved, obtain its jurisdiction and registration details separately. A Georgian company's extract does not establish the foreign partner's authority. Incorporation also does not prove permission to conduct a particular medical activity, financial stability or service quality. Those questions require separate examination. The extract identifies a business and its public particulars; it is not approval of the entire programme or evidence that every advertised service is lawful.
Official sources: National Agency of Public Registry · Law on Entrepreneurs
Director, coordinator or authorised agent
A person's job title is not the same as authority for a particular transaction. For a registered executive, check the representation arrangement, including any requirement for joint signatures. Article 42 of the Law on Entrepreneurs concerns company representation. Internal restrictions and rules effective against outsiders can have different consequences, so finding an internal limit does not by itself establish that a contract is invalid.
For a customer coordinator, request the document authorising the particular act. Check the grantor, date, duration, scope and any delegation. Negotiating services, signing a contract, changing a price, receiving funds and releasing a claim are distinct acts. Keep every page and attachment of the authority document. If it is translated, the translation must preserve those distinctions. A company stamp or employee business card does not replace this examination. Where uncertainty remains, ask an appropriately authorised company officer to confirm the named agreement and signer's capacity directly. Do not ask for a vague statement that the coordinator generally works with the company.
Official sources: Civil Code: representation · Law on Entrepreneurs
Whose interests does the intermediary represent?
Ask the intermediary to explain, in writing, whose behalf they act on at each stage: the client's, the agency's, the clinic's, or their own as a separate provider. Interpreting for a client does not itself create legal representation. Regular cooperation with a clinic does not establish power to promise financial terms for it. The agreement should identify authorised acts and matters requiring further approval.
Pay particular attention when the same person uses your power of attorney and signs for the other side. Civil Code Article 114 specifically addresses self-dealing and representation on both sides, with exceptions. Its application requires the facts; a dual role does not automatically invalidate every document. As practical safeguards, obtain an explanation of the conflict, clearly separated signature capacities and independent document review. Disclosure of any commission also helps assess the service and accountability. A commission is not itself evidence of illegality, but an undisclosed financial relationship can obscure whose advice you are receiving and why a particular provider was selected.
Official sources: Civil Code: representation
Check payment authority separately
Authority to sign an agreement does not automatically establish authority to receive its money into any account. Compare the named payee, invoice, bank-account holder and transfer reference. If an agency collects an amount intended for a clinic, ask which obligation that payment discharges and how the clinic will credit it. Apply the same question when someone in China receives funds locally for services contracted with a Georgian company.
An unfamiliar personal account warrants further checking; it does not alone prove fraud. Obtain a written explanation of the account holder's role and the treatment of the payment, then verify the instruction through a previously confirmed contact channel. Keep the recipient's acknowledgement with your transfer record. A bank receipt does not establish that the service provider was paid when another person received the money. This separates an authority problem from an accounting dispute or mistaken recipient. Assess contractual consequences before withholding or redirecting payment, so the verification process does not itself create an avoidable breach.
Official sources: Civil Code: representation · Law on Entrepreneurs
Match promises to the actual contract
List the promises that matter: scope, extra charges, communication language, document preparation, possible refunds and reporting. For each, identify the speaker, date, language and contractual location. Preserve the original advertising, messages and agreement. A guarantee appearing in a translation may be absent from the Georgian document; reconcile that difference before signing.
The text should show whether the person undertakes an obligation themselves or only arranges another provider's service. Booking a clinic appointment differs from guaranteeing the clinic's decision. Promises about birth registration, Chinese nationality or a travel date need separate assessment because different competent authorities determine those outcomes. Confirmed agency authority cannot bind those authorities to approve an application. If the agency attributes a promise to another organisation, obtain that organisation's specific response. Record agreed changes consistently in each contractual language and identify their relationship to the main agreement. An unresolved conversation may become an evidence problem when the coordinator leaves the company or the parties disagree about what was actually promised.
Official sources: Civil Code: representation · Law on Patient Rights
When an agreement is already signed
If an authority defect emerges later, do not immediately label the agreement void or alter the evidence. Preserve the signed version, correspondence, payments and records of performance. Civil Code Articles 111–113 address unauthorised contracting, possible approval and responsibility. Article 104 can also make relevant the circumstances created by the purported principal and the other party's good-faith reliance.
Find out who knew about the agreement, performed it, issued invoices and credited payments. These facts do not automatically decide the dispute, but they shape the analysis. Send the organisation a precise inquiry about the identified document and signer, ideally with legal input. A general request for information and a statutory request for approval may have different consequences; do not combine them casually. Nor should you sign a backdated document purporting to establish authority retrospectively. If confirmation is provided later, its actual date and purpose should be clear. Preserve the chronology so a reviewer can distinguish original authority from subsequent conduct or approval.
Official sources: Civil Code: representation
Corporate authority does not replace patient rights
Confirming an agency director's powers answers a company-representation question. It does not establish that the director can consent to treatment for another capable adult or receive that adult's complete medical history. The Law on Patient Rights treats information, consent and confidentiality separately. The payer, patient and person seeking recognition as a parent may be different people; their rights should not be merged into one broad contract clause.
Clarify that clinical decisions, the patient's wishes and lawful patient representation follow their own rules. Ask the clinic who may receive appointment messages, request a report, or must receive the explanation of a proposed intervention. Where lawful disclosure to the agency is needed, define its purpose and scope instead of demanding unlimited access for convenience. After birth, evidence of authority to represent the child is another question. A commercial power of attorney does not create parentage. Keeping these boundaries clear also prevents a financial dispute from becoming a pretext to circulate another patient's confidential file.
Official sources: Law on Patient Rights · Civil Code: representation
Hypothetical example: three names in one file
Consider a fictional file. A Chinese-speaking client deals with Brand A, signs an agreement with Georgian Company B, and receives an invoice naming Clinic C. The coordinator also says that the clinic guarantees a refund. None of those facts alone identifies the refund debtor. First check B's identity and signer's authority. Then obtain C's direct confirmation of its document and terms. Finally reconcile the account recipient and payment purpose.
If B merely arranged appointments and no written refund promise exists, a lawyer would examine messages, the speaker's capacity and performance. If C issued its own invoice and confirmed the service terms, the evidential picture differs. Neither scenario justifies inventing shared liability because the organisations cooperate. Signing a new addendum before resolving the facts may affect existing claims. The appropriate response might be additional authority evidence, a carefully framed confirmation, corrected contractual wording or targeted dispute analysis. This example is hypothetical and describes no actual client, clinic or agency.
Official sources: Civil Code: representation · National Agency of Public Registry
Ask for a confirmation that resolves the actual issue
Assess a company's confirmation by its content rather than official appearance. A letter saying that a coordinator works there may say nothing about the particular agreement, addendum or collection of money. Tie your question to the disputed act: identify the agreement and date, the precise amendment and the person on whose behalf the statement was made. Ask the respondent to identify their own representative capacity as well.
Compare the reply with the original agreement. Acceptance of future work should not be described as an admission of responsibility for every past promise. If the reply proposes another contract, check whether it changes the party, price, dispute clause or treatment of existing claims. Check the translation too: a limited authority confirmation must not become a general guarantee. Verify the sender through an established contact, especially if a new bank account accompanies the letter. Keep the complete response and attachments. This helps distinguish filling an evidential gap from negotiating a new arrangement, which may have different practical implications for money already paid and services still expected.
Official sources: Civil Code: representation · Law on Entrepreneurs
Turn the review into an actionable decision
End the review with a one-page note for each organisation: identified entity, relevant-date representative, contractual role, payment role and outstanding question. Distinguish proven facts, a party's explanation and legal assessment. Correct all connected versions if the problem is translation. Request a specific document if authority evidence is missing. Preserve a denial of involvement and seek targeted advice if an organisation disowns the arrangement.
Reliable identification of a company does not establish eligibility for a particular surrogacy arrangement, parentage recognition or acceptance of documents in China. Those require separate examination. An initial Advokato inquiry can state the organisations, signing date, your role and the authority issue without sensitive attachments. Do not put a child's medical history, DNA report or passports into a public contact form. Agree a secure channel before providing the necessary documents. The review should identify who must confirm what and which decision needs further assessment; it cannot guarantee enforcement, a refund or a favourable decision by another authority.
Official sources: Civil Code: representation · Law on Patient Rights
Important noteThis material is general information, not personalised legal advice. Recheck current law, official practice, fees and deadlines against your facts before acting.