Pope calls for global ban on surrogacy

Pope Francis called for a global ban on surrogacy on Monday, calling it “deplorable” that a woman carries another person’s child.

In his New Year’s address to diplomats at the Vatican, Pope Francis called for a global ban on surrogacy, calling it a “grave violation of the dignity of the woman and child.”

In a speech dominated by efforts to cease global wars, the leader of the Catholic Church said, “The path to peace requires respect for life.”

This began “with the life of the unborn child in the mother’s womb, which cannot be suppressed or turned into an object of trafficking,” he said.

“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. Consequently, I express my hope for an effort by the international community to prohibit this practice universally.”

In June 2022, the Pope criticized surrogacy as an “inhuman” practice.

“Altruistic” surrogacy, in which a woman gives birth to a baby on behalf of another woman or couple while no money changes hands except for expenses, is permitted in Belgium, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil, and Colombia.

Commercial surrogacy is legal in various US states.