German politician resigns over surrogate controversy

Jens Spahn, a key figure in German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's center-right CDU party, has resigned his parliamentary leadership position amid a controversy surrounding his use of a surrogate mother in the United States. The practice is banned in Germany, creating a significant conflict for Spahn, whose party has consistently voted to maintain the prohibition.

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In recent days, I have come to realise that my personal happiness in starting a family with my husband and becoming a father is incompatible with my political office.

In a letter to a colleague, Spahn stated his realization that his personal joy in starting a family with his husband and becoming a father was irreconcilable with his political office. The news of his child's birth via surrogacy, which broke in the German press on Thursday, immediately drew criticism and calls for his resignation from within the CDU, with opponents citing hypocrisy.

Spahn had previously defended his decision in a podcast interview, admitting he had long wrestled with the issue of surrogacy before choosing that path to have a child. While Chancellor Merz declined to comment publicly on Spahn's resignation, he indicated the matter would be discussed by the party's national executive committee. Merz also stated he saw no reason to alter Germany's laws on surrogate pregnancy or the CDU's established opposition to the practice.

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had "wrestled with myself for a long time, including on the issue of surrogacy" before finally deciding to have a child that way.

Spahn, 46, previously served as health minister under former Chancellor Angela Merkel, notably during the Covid-19 pandemic. He had more recently emerged as a prominent voice on the CDU's right-wing, advocating for stricter immigration policies.

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no reason