Pope Francis has called for a universal ban on surrogacy, saying that an unborn child should not be “turned into an object of trafficking.”
“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,” Francis said in a speech to the Holy See on Monday in which he discussed threats to peace and human dignity.
“A child is always a gift and never the basis of a commercial contract,” Francis continued. “Consequently, I express my hope for an effort by the international community to prohibit this practice universally.”
Francis has referred to surrogacy, the process by which one woman carries a child for another couple, as an “inhumane” method in the past. Children produced via surrogacy to homosexual parents can still be baptized, the Vatican’s doctrine office has clarified.
Surrogacy is banned in many European countries and commercial surrogacy, or for-profit surrogacy, is legal in some U.S. states. Altruistic surrogacy, the method by which a woman carries another person’s child for no official compensation, is legal in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, South Africa, Greece, and Iceland, according to the National Institutes of Health.
The “uterus for rent” process, as Francis has called it, was estimated to bring in $14 billion in the U.S. in 2022, and is projected to grow to a $129 billion market by 2032. Individual surrogacies can cost anywhere from $60,000 to $200,000 plus in the U.S. Rising infertility rates, an increase in the number of fertility clinics, and “sedentary lifestyles” contribute to surrogacy’s recent popularity, according to Global Market Insights.
Celebrity endorsement has also contributed to the surrogacy boom. Some celebrities, such as reality stars Kim Kardashian and Chrissy Teagan, used surrogacy after suffering from infertility. Others like actress Jamie Chung have been candid about their decisions to use surrogacy for its convenience.
“I was terrified of becoming pregnant,” Chung said. “I was terrified of putting my life on hold for two-plus years. In my industry, it feels like you’re easily forgotten if you don’t work within the next month of your last job. Things are so quickly paced in what we do. So it’s a compromise that we made together as a couple.”
Francis also listed Russia’s war on Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas war, climate change, and increased weapons production as great threats to peace on Monday.