By John Ikani
Pope Francis has called for a global prohibition on surrogacy, branding the act of a woman carrying someone else’s child as ‘deplorable.’
Speaking in his New Year’s address to diplomats at the Vatican, the 87-year-old pontiff stressed that surrogacy constitutes a “grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child.”
In a speech predominantly centred on appeals for an end to global conflicts, the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church stressed the importance of respecting life.
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He underscored, “The path to peace calls for respect for life,” starting with “the life of the unborn child the the mother’s womb, which cannot be suppressed or turned into an object of trafficking.”
In expressing his disapproval, he remarked, “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.”
Pope Francis continued to assert that “A child is always a gift and never the basis of a commercial contract.”
Consequently, he articulated his hope for concerted efforts by the international community to universally prohibit this practice.
In June 2022, the pontiff condemned surrogacy as an “inhuman” practice. Notably, “altruistic” surrogacy, where a woman gives birth without financial gain, excluding necessary expenses, is legally practised in countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK, Canada, Brazil, and Colombia.
Meanwhile, some US states permit commercial surrogacy.
