Pope Francis has called births by surrogacy “deplorable”, saying there should be a worldwide ban on the practice.
On Monday, the 87-year-old head of the Catholic Church spoke in front of the ambassadors of the 184 countries that have diplomatic ties with the Vatican state, listing some of the biggest issues the world will face in 2024.
One of these issues, the Pope says, is surrogacy, the act of someone else carrying a pregnancy for parents who are unable to safely do so or are unable to conceive.
“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,” the Pope said in his speech.
“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.”
Pope Francis called for a global ban on parenting via surrogacy, calling the practice "deplorable" and a grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child. https://t.co/vp4E15tzez pic.twitter.com/cFAwDE9reJ
— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 8, 2024
Pope Francis said the “path to peace” first involves “respect for life”, which he said surrogacy poses a threat to. He said that children and mothers should be “suppressed or turned into an object of trafficking”.
Widely considered one of the more progressive leaders of the Catholic church, Pope Francis has previously spoken out supporting some (not all) LGBTQIA+ and women’s rights, as well as standing in solidarity with migrants and refugees.
However, the Pope has taken a strong, conservative stance against surrogacy and other reproductive health rights, including abortion.
In 2022, he called surrogacy “womb renting” and a threat to “human dignity”.
Other issues he raised in his speech on Monday included calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, ending the war in Ukraine and providing aid in humanitarian crises in Africa.
The United Nations have raised legal and ethical concerns around commercial surrogacy around the world that risks exploiting both women and children in the process.
A UN report in 2019 recommended safeguards for surrogacy to be practiced around the world safely, upholding the human rights of both the child and the surrogate.
Some countries, as well as some states in the US, permit commercial surrogacy. In 2022, the global surrogacy industry grew to approximately $14 billion (US dollars) and is expected to rise to $129 billion (US dollars) by 2032.
Surrogacy in Australia
There are approximately 115 surrogacy births across Australia every year, according to statistics from the Australian and New Zealand Assisted Reproduction Database.
Around 100 of these births are from gestational surrogacy, where an embryo is transferred to the uterus of the surrogate. Another 10-15 babies are born through traditional surrogacy, which more often than not do not involve a fertility clinic, as the surrogate uses their own eggs to conceive the embryo.
Each state and territory in Australia has its own laws around surrogacy, but all ban the practice of commercial surrogacy, where the surrogate is paid. Arrangements for surrogacy across Australia must therefore be altruistic.