Pope Francis Calls For Global Ban On Surrogacy, Terms It Deplorable

• Pope Francis has called to ban surrogacy globally, saying it is exploiting poor women all over the world
• The Vatican leader described the process of getting a child as a deplorable practice which violates the dignity of a mother and the child
• This comes weeks after the Roman Catholic head allowed priests to bless same-sex couples as a sign of welcoming them to church

Vatican leader Pope Francis has called for a global ban on surrogacy, equating the method of having a baby to child trafficking.

Surrogacy, as defined by Yale Medicine, is the process in which a woman carries and delivers a child for a couple or individual through the use of in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Why Pope Francis dislikes surrogacy

According to a statement released by the Vatican, the Roman Catholic head said he considers surrogate motherhood as a deplorable practice.

“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," read part of the statement.

The pope also described the process as a Western problem and termed it a 'culture of death' that discards children, the elderly and the sick.

His statement calling for the global ban had fuelled efforts in Italy to pass the most restrictive law on the practice used by infertile and same-sex couples to become parents.

Francis additionally reiterated his position against “gender theory,” which he described as “extremely dangerous.”

According to The Washington Post, In 2022, Poe Francis compared surrogacy — or “womb renting,” as he called it, with adult films, calling them “threats to human dignity.”

He has also spoken repeatedly of surrogacy as an exploitation of women in poverty, part of a world in which the poor are victimised by commodity-driven and overly commercialised Western culture.

Pope allows priests to bless same-sex couples

Elsewhere, The Vatican, in December 2023, announced that Pope Francis authorised priests to bless same-sex couples as a sign of welcoming the LGBTQ community of the Roman Catholic Church.

According to the Pope, this move does not change the Roman Catholic Church's stand on marriages, which is still between men and women.

This came months after the Vatican leader suggested that he was open to blessing same-gender marriages.