Pope Francis called surrogacy ‘deplorable’ – but the reasons why women and parents choose surrogacy are complex and defy simple labels

By Danielle Tumminio Hansen, Emory University

Pope Francis made headlines on Jan. 8, 2024, when he called for a global surrogacy ban, stating, “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.”

The use of surrogacy, in which a woman carries and delivers a child for someone else, has grown exponentially in recent years and is expected to continue to do so. While headlines often surface when celebrities like Paris Hilton grow their family using the technology, it also gets attention on the rare occasion a surrogate refuses to relinquish the child they carried, or when surrogates experience exploitation.

Such human rights violations appear to be the reason that Francis condemned the practice. But in so doing, I argue, the pope is failing to recognize how varied and nuanced the experiences of intended parents, surrogates and children are.

I have researched surrogacy for over a decade and have learned many things: Some women indeed become surrogates out of desperation and are abused in the process, as the pope says. But others, like the Christian ethicist Grace Kao, are thriving professionals who make the choice for altruistic reasons and never accept remuneration.

The complex reasons why women become surrogates and why parents choose to create families in this way make it nearly impossible to issue a universal conclusion about it. Instead, like many technologies, surrogacy’s ethical value is dependent upon the people and systems who use it.

Catholicism and surrogacy

While the pope framed his condemnation of surrogacy as a human rights abuse, the Catholic tradition has consistently opposed surrogacy, in vitro fertilization and abortion on the grounds that they violate natural law.

Natural law is a philosophy that states there are certain unchangeable parts of human nature that God endows.

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