French election politics bring surrogacy back into Europe’s spotlight
Former French PM Gabriel Attal has called for a national debate on legalizing surrogacy as part of his 2027 presidential campaign. His stance clashes with President Macron, who has called surrogacy a "red line," and faces opposition across both sides of the political spectrum. Politicians from his own party and others have criticized the move, arguing it commercializes reproduction and does not address demographic challenges. The debate could have wider European implications, as France's position on bioethical issues influences broader EU policy discussions.
3 months ago
French politics are once again spotlighting surrogacy as a contentious bio‑ethical issue ahead of the 2027 presidential election, with former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal championing legalisation while a broad coalition of domestic and international actors opposes the move. 1
Attal, now the leader of President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance party and a presidential candidate, has called for a national debate on legalising surrogacy—a practice currently banned in France. He links the proposal to his personal wish to have children with his partner, European Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné. 1 2
Macron has repeatedly drawn a “red line” around surrogacy, putting Attal at odds with the incumbent president despite both belonging to the same political family. 1
A cross‑party op‑ed signed by former justice and health ministers condemns the idea of “making women’s bodies available to satisfy the desires of others.” The opposition includes members of Attal’s own party, such as gender‑equality minister Aurore Bergé. 1
Critics argue that surrogacy does not address France’s declining birth rate and would instead commercialise reproduction. They favour family‑support policies and adoption reform. 2
Polling cited by jurist Matthieu Le Tourneur indicates a narrow majority of French citizens support legalising surrogacy, but support weakens when same‑sex couples are involved. He warns that public sentiment may be shifting against the practice as anti‑surrogacy activism grows. 1
Le Tourneur notes that any legal change would face “significant political obstacles” from both left‑ and right‑wing factions, feminists, anti‑capitalists and conservatives. Attal would need backing from extreme‑left LGBTQIA+ groups, liberal centrists and dissenting lawmakers. 1
France’s bio‑ethical reforms traditionally influence other European nations. Legalisation in France could extend to heterosexual couples, same‑sex couples and single individuals, potentially energising pro‑surrogacy campaigns elsewhere. 1
Opposition leaders such as Ludovine de La Rochère of Le Syndicat de la Famille warn that French legalisation would be a “humanitarian, social, and ethical disaster” and could spur a coordinated EU condemnation of all surrogacy forms. 2
The United Nations Human Rights Council recently hosted a side event—backed by Italy, the Holy See, Chile and Cameroon—calling for a global moratorium on surrogacy. The initiative follows statements by Pope Leo XIV and the Holy See condemning the practice earlier in 2026. 1 2
U.N. Special Rapporteur Reem Alsalem warned that surrogacy can expose women to exploitation, coercion, health risks and psychological harm, framing it as a violation of human dignity. 1
Anti‑surrogacy groups, including Juristes pour l’Enfance and Le Syndicat de la Famille, gathered in Geneva to label surrogacy a modern form of human trafficking and to push for coordinated international action. 2
Taken together, Attal’s push for legalising surrogacy sits at the centre of France’s upcoming electoral debate, confronting entrenched domestic opposition and a growing international coalition that includes governments, U.N. experts and Catholic leadership.
Investigate Catholic Church’s stance on surrogacy and demographic decline
The Catholic Church’s position on surrogacy is unequivocally negative: surrogacy is judged a “grave violation” of the dignity of both the child and the woman, and participation in such arrangements is not permitted. At the same time, the Church treats demographic decline as a serious social crisis whose deeper roots are moral and spiritual—insisting that any genuine response must strengthen marriage and family life, protect the right to life, and support responsible parenthood rather than promote “anti-birth” agendas.
The Church teaches that surrogacy fundamentally misconstrues what a child is. In the Declaration Dignitas Infinita, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith states that the practice of surrogacy makes “the immensely worthy child” into “a mere object.”
Pope Leo XIV likewise condemns surrogacy for turning the child into a kind of “product,” reducing the human person to an object of negotiation.
A crucial point is that the Church does not treat procreation as a commodity or a “right.” Dignitas Infinita emphasizes that children possess an “inalienable dignity,” including a “right to have a fully human (and not artificially induced) origin.” It also teaches that legitimate parental desire must not be transformed into a “right to a child” that ignores the dignity of the child as the receiver of a gift of life.
The Church also argues that surrogacy instrumentalizes the woman. Dignitas Infinita teaches that in surrogacy the woman is “detached from the child growing in her” and becomes “a mere means” for the arbitrary gain or desire of others.
Pope Leo XIV adds that surrogacy “exploits” the mother’s body and the generative process, again underscoring that gestation is not a service that can be treated contractually.
For Catholic healthcare settings, the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services (USCCB) states directly that, because of the dignity of the child and of marriage—and because of the uniqueness of the mother-child relationship—participation in “contracts or arrangements for surrogate motherhood is not permitted.”
It further warns that the commercialization involved “denigrates the dignity of women, especially the poor.”
Across these sources, the moral reasoning converges on a few linked principles:
The Church acknowledges that low birthrates and an aging society are urgent challenges. Pope Leo XIV describes “zero-growth demographics” as a practical problem for millions of families and also notes “loneliness” as a social effect.
But he also insists demographic data are not just numbers; they “speak of fatherhood, motherhood and children,” and must be addressed with an anthropology rooted in the dignity of persons.
A striking Catholic emphasis is that demographic crises have deeper causes than economics alone. An address preserved in Acta Apostolicae Sedis says that where nations/groups lack enough young people to renew their population, “its ultimate roots can be seen as moral and spiritual.” These causes are linked to “a disturbing deficit of faith, hope and, indeed, love.”
It then explains how love and hope are concretely relevant to births: couples need a form of love that is creative and future-oriented, marked by “agape rooted in generosity and marked by trust and hope in the future.”
The same source connects demographic decline to culture and family life: many couples choose not to marry, marriages fail, and birth rates diminish—especially where children grow up in a society “forgetful of God” and of the innate dignity of the person.
Catholic teaching also treats certain political approaches as threats to human life. Evangelium Vitae warns that in some rich/developed countries there is a “disturbing decline or collapse of the birthrate,” and that contraception, sterilization, and abortion are “certainly part of the reason” for such declines.
It also condemns the temptation to solve demographic concerns by targeting life—comparing contemporary “powerful” actors to the Pharaoh’s oppression, but in a modern form: promoting “a massive programme of birth control,” with economic aid made conditional on acceptance of anti-birth policies.
In short: the Church does not accept demographic decline as a reason to justify “methods and attacks against life.”
Alongside critique of anti-birth policies, the Church defends couples’ freedom to decide about children according to moral law. A text in Acta Apostolicae Sedis teaches that governments should not decide for couples, but should create social conditions that empower them to decide in light of their responsibilities to God, themselves, society, and the objective moral order.
It also states that the Church opposes limiting births and opposes methods that separate the unitive and procreative dimensions of marital intercourse or that assault life.
This means the Church’s demographic response is not “population engineering.” It is moral: strengthening marriage and family life, removing pressures that distort choices, and enabling authentic responsible parenthood.
Multiple Church documents emphasize “a strategy in favour of families.” COMECE (the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union) requested an EU approach that promotes the family and supports married couples because demographic challenges require tackling the “source”—not just symptoms.
Pope Leo XIV likewise states that resolving Europe’s demographic crisis requires respect and promotion of the central place of the family and policies that avoid extremes like excessive state intervention and individualism, under the principle of subsidiarity.
Catholic teaching does not treat surrogacy as a legitimate “demographic solution.” The reason is not demographic math; it is moral anthropology.
From the Church’s perspective:
So, in Catholic terms, demographic decline should be addressed by strengthening marriage/family, supporting couples, and cultivating the moral and spiritual conditions in which having and raising children is credible and hopeful—not by adopting practices that the Church has already identified as morally grave.
Catholic teaching condemns surrogacy as a grave violation of human dignity: it treats the child as an “object” or “product” and treats the woman’s gestation as an exploitable service. At the same time, demographic decline is treated as an urgent social crisis with moral and spiritual roots; the Church calls for public policies that support the family and enable responsible parenthood, while rejecting anti-life “birth control” approaches.