Jens Spahn, a top leader of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s party, resigned his post after announcing that he had a baby by surrogate, which is illegal in Germany. Jens Spahn had criticised ‘rented wombs’ and his party is strongly opposed to surrogacy, which is banned in GermanyA senior German politician and ally of the chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has resigned as chair of the Christian Democrat (CDU) party after he and his husband used a surrogate mother to become parents, a practice he has criticised in the past and his party is vehemently opposed to.Surrogacy is banned in Germany, a policy Jens Spahn refused to relax when he was health minister in 2020, so he and his husband, Daniel Funke, used a surrogate mother in the US. Jens Spahn faced criticism over his use of a surrogate, a ban on which he previously backed.
Jens Spahn, the parliamentary head of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's CDU faction, resigned on Saturday amid mounting pressure over his use of a surrogate mother in the US despite a surrogacy ban in Germany. Spahn and his husband welcomed the child earlier this week, sparking criticisms of hypocrisy and double standards.
Summary from source