Pope Francis, in his New Year's address to diplomats at the Vatican on Monday, advocated for a worldwide prohibition on surrogacy, denouncing the practice of a woman carrying another individual's child as "deplorable." Surrogacy, as defined by the Cambridge Dictionary, involves a woman giving birth to a baby on behalf of another woman who is unable to do so herself.
The 87-year-old pontiff emphasized the gravity of the situation, stating that surrogacy constitutes a "grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child." Amidst his broader call for an end to global conflicts, the leader of the global Catholic Church emphasized the importance of respecting life, starting with the unborn child in the mother's womb, which he asserted cannot be treated as a commodity or subject to trafficking.
Expressing his disapproval of the practice of surrogate motherhood, Pope Francis condemned it as a serious infringement on the dignity of both the woman and the child, driven by the exploitation of the mother's material needs. He underlined the belief that a child is always a gift and should never be the subject of a commercial contract. Concluding his remarks, he voiced his hope for collective international efforts to prohibit the practice of surrogacy universally.
The Pope had previously criticized surrogacy in June 2022, labelling it an "inhuman" practice, further emphasizing his stance against this method of assisted reproduction.
