The child in surrogacy
Examines how surrogacy agencies handle abortion, noting selective termination for multiples or medical/genetic abnormalities. Highlights a recent Alaska case where a surrogate refused to terminate a fetus diagnosed with a congenital heart condition, drawing attention from pro‑life leaders. Cites Pope Leo XIV’s condemnation of surrogacy, stressing the dignity of the child and mother and the violation of commodifying gestation. References earlier Church teachings, including Donum Vitae and Dignitas Infinita, that denounce surrogacy as exploitative and a violation of human dignity. Discusses how surrogacy agencies in Connecticut, Los Angeles, and Des Moines approach abortion for medical or personal reasons, illustrating industry practices.
14 days ago
The article examines surrogacy through a Catholic pro-life perspective, focusing on cases in which surrogate mothers have resisted requests to abort babies diagnosed with medical conditions. It argues that surrogacy can treat both children and women as commodities, while emphasizing that human dignity does not depend on health, ability, or conformity to expectations.
The article highlights a recent case involving an Alaska surrogate who declined to abort a baby after the child was diagnosed with a serious congenital heart condition. National pro-life leaders have drawn attention to the case as an example of conflict between the surrogate’s judgment and the biological parents’ wishes.
The author reports that surrogacy agencies commonly describe “selective termination” or “reduction” when a pregnancy involves multiple babies or when fetal genetic or medical abnormalities are identified. Reasons cited by agencies include Down syndrome, other genetic conditions, severe growth restriction, congenital defects and a desire to reduce the number of babies in a pregnancy.
The article also notes that abortion decisions may arise from circumstances unrelated to the baby’s health, including the intended parents’ divorce, breakup, terminal illness or death.
The article presents the Catholic Church as opposing surrogacy because it believes the practice commercializes reproduction and compromises the dignity of both the child and the woman carrying the pregnancy. Pope Leo XIV is quoted as saying that turning gestation into a negotiable service reduces the child to a product, exploits the mother’s body and distorts the family’s relational purpose.
The article connects Pope Leo’s position with Pope Francis’ 2024 condemnation of surrogate motherhood. Francis described surrogacy as a serious violation of the dignity of women and children and said that a child is a gift rather than the subject of a commercial contract.
It also cites Catholic documents including Donum Vitae, Dignitas Infinita and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. These texts maintain that a child is not something owed to another person or a form of property, and that children possess rights from the moment of conception.
Although the article acknowledges that intended parents may have a genuine desire to raise children and that surrogate mothers may believe they are helping families, it argues that these motivations do not resolve the ethical concerns surrounding surrogacy. It calls for children born through surrogacy to be recognized and loved as persons with inherent dignity.
The author links surrogacy with a broader concern about decisions that allow others to determine when a child should live or die based on health, circumstances or perceived perfection. Pope Leo’s statement that dignity is independent of a person’s abilities, wealth, status or choices is presented as the article’s central principle.
The article’s conclusion is that human worth is not determined by physical perfection or the absence of disability. It presents human dignity as something given by God before any achievement or personal quality, and argues that every child should be regarded as worthy of love simply by being human.
Surrogacy violates human dignity and must be prohibited
The statement is consistent with Catholic teaching. Surrogacy violates the dignity of both the child and the woman, because it treats the child as an object of an agreement and risks reducing the woman to a means for fulfilling another’s desire or profit.
The Church distinguishes a legitimate desire for a child from a supposed “right to a child.” A child is a gift, not the object of a contract. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith therefore judges surrogacy morally illicit, since it separates parenthood and procreation and harms the child’s right to be conceived, carried, born, and raised by his or her own parents.
Accordingly, Pope Francis expressed hope that the international community would prohibit surrogacy universally, and Catholic health-care directives state that participation in surrogate-motherhood arrangements is not permitted. Any legal prohibition should also protect women from coercion and exploitation, especially poverty, while ensuring humane care for children already born through such arrangements.