ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church, has called for a worldwide ban on surrogacy during his New Year address at the Vatican on Monday.
Describing the practice as “despicable,” the Pope emphasized his concern about the commercialization of childbirth, asserting that it strips poor fertile women of their dignity.
Addressing diplomats and influencers capable of catalyzing global changes, the Pope declared, “I consider despicable 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.”
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Expressing his plea for a universal ban, Pope Francis highlighted the potential threat to international peace posed by surrogacy, stating that children are gifts and should never be commodified through business deals.
He stressed, “The path to peace calls for respect for life. 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.”
While Italy and many European countries have already outlawed surrogacy, it remains legal and compensated in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine.
The United Kingdom and the Netherlands permit surrogacy under stringent guidelines, catering to same-sex couples and women who, for various reasons, cannot carry pregnancies.