Pope Francis has called for a global ban on surrogacy, stating that the practice of a woman carrying a child that belongs to another person was “deplorable”.
During his New Year’s address to diplomats at the Vatican, the 87-year-old pontiff said it was a “grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child”.
In a speech which borders on calls for an end to conflicts around the world, the Pope said: “The path to peace calls for respect for life.”
He said 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.”
“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.”
The pope labeled surrogacy as an “inhuman” practice in June 2022.
