Medical Records and Informed Consent in IVF and Surrogacy

Separate legal consent from clinical decisions

The legal agreement may allocate responsibilities and record what participants intend, but a clinician determines the information and consent process required for medical care. Georgian patient-rights legislation addresses the patient’s right to information about proposed services, risks, alternatives and results, and requires informed consent before care, with written consent for specified services. The current provisions and clinical context should be checked.

Identify the patient for every step. An intended parent may be the patient for gamete collection or another procedure, a donor for retrieval, and a surrogate for transfer, pregnancy or delivery care. One participant’s contractual consent cannot be assumed to authorise another participant’s medical care. Emergency and representative situations require their own legal analysis.

Identify who can obtain which records

The Patient Rights Law provides a framework for a patient, and in specified situations a relative or legal representative, to access and request copies of medical records. That does not mean intended parents automatically receive the surrogate’s or donor’s complete file. Ask who holds the record, who is the data subject, what authority exists and what limited information is necessary for treatment, legal evidence or another stated purpose.

Differentiate medical records from program reports. An agency update may summarise progress but is not necessarily the clinic’s official record. Intended parents should preserve their own clinical, contractual, consent and payment records and request corrections through the proper holder. If another participant authorises disclosure, the form should identify the records, recipient, purpose, duration and any lawful withdrawal process.

Document changes and instructions

Consent is not a one-time signature detached from later facts. When the proposed procedure, recipient, use of material, provider or disclosure changes, ask whether new information and consent are required. Record the date, version, explanation, signatories and clinician or provider responsible. Do not backdate a form or rely on an informal message where the law or provider requires a formal consent.

Contracts should explain who may issue non-medical instructions, but they should not pressure a patient to accept treatment or waive informed decision-making. If an intended parent, agency and clinic give inconsistent instructions, pause the administrative step where safe, identify the patient and competent decision-maker, preserve the messages and obtain clinical or legal advice as appropriate.

• Use version numbers or dates for every material consent form.
• Confirm identity and signing authority.
• Keep clinical explanation separate from commercial pressure.
• Record lawful withdrawal or refusal and its contractual consequences separately.
• Reconcile storage, donor and transfer instructions before use.

Protect privacy and prepare for record disputes

Georgia’s personal-data legislation treats health and genetic information as special-category data. Identify the lawful basis, purpose, minimum necessary content, recipients, security, retention and rights process for each disclosure. Use provider-to-provider secure exchange where appropriate instead of forwarding sensitive files through informal group chats or unnecessary intermediaries.

If records are missing, inaccurate or withheld, make a focused written request to the correct holder and state the authority and purpose. Preserve the request and response. Avoid threatening public disclosure or obtaining records through another person’s account. Counsel can assess access rights, contractual duties, evidence preservation and remedies, while urgent treatment information should be addressed promptly through the treating provider.

Official sources and legal limits

The following primary sources informed this guide. Official English translations and service pages are useful orientation, but current Georgian text, implementing rules, authority practice and the particular facts should be checked before individual advice is given.