The Holy Father had a couple of harsh words to share concerning surrogate pregnancy. Pope Francis called for the ban of surrogacy worldwide on Monday during a speech in front of diplomats representing 184 countries.
“Dear, Ambassadors, the path to peace calls for respect for life, for every human life, starting with the life of the unborn child in the mother’s womb, which cannot be suppressed or turned into an object of trafficking. In this regard, I deem deplorable the practice of so-called surrogate motherhood, which represents a grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child, based on the exploitation of situations of the mother’s material needs. A child is always a gift and never the basis of a commercial contract,” quoted Pope Francis.
Back in 2022, the Pope also called surrogacy “inhuman” saying that “women, almost all poor, are exploited, and children are treated like goods,” as per CBS News.
Most of Europe has the practice of surrogacy banned; while some other countries, along with a few states in the U.S., permit commercial surrogacy (involves payment) and altruistic (doesn’t involve payment) surrogacy to be practiced. The Vatican’s doctrine office, however, explicitly states that homosexual parents who conceive their child with the help of surrogacy can have those children baptized.
Surrogacy has become a popular trend in the United States; specifically for couples and individuals who struggle to have children. It has gotten praise for being able to do such a thing, but it has also received backlash for being an “unnatural way” to conceive.
