BERLIN — A senior figure in Germany’s ruling conservative bloc resigned Saturday following intense backlash over his decision to have a child via a surrogate mother in the United States.
Jens Spahn, 46, served as the parliamentary leader of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democrat party and its allied Christian Social Union — together known as CDU/CSU. The controversy erupted after it became public that Spahn and his husband had welcomed a baby through a surrogate, a practice that runs counter to the party’s official position.
In Germany, surrogacy is against the law, though raising a child born through surrogacy in another country is not prohibited.
In his resignation letter, Spahn explained his decision: “Over the past few days, I have come to realise that my personal happiness — starting a family with my husband and becoming a father — is incompatible with my political office.”
The CDU had reaffirmed its opposition to surrogacy within Germany at a party conference back in February. Once news surfaced that Spahn had used a surrogate in the U.S., voices from within the party began calling on him to step aside.
