The Pope Calls Surrogacy 'Deplorable'

Pope Francis has taken a controversial stance against surrogacy. 

During a recent speech, he called for a global ban on surrogacy, calling it a "deplorable" practice that "is based on the exploitation" of mothers' material needs, and is "a grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child." 

He also said a child's life shouldn't be "suppressed or turned into an object of trafficking." He then called on the world "to prohibit this practice universally." 

Surrogacy is already illegal in some countries, including Italy. 

The Catholic Church has been against surrogacy for a long time, as well as in vitro fertilisation (IVF), due to their disposal of embryos. 

However, since his speech, Pope Francis has received an outstanding amount of backlash. 

According to Stephanie Levich, the founder of Family Match Consulting, his request could have "dangerous" consequences if followed through with. 

She found the comments "disappointing and shortsighted" and continued to say, "For me, this is a matter of personal autonomy and choice and women having the ability to make decisions for themselves and their families.”

Not to mention single fathers, and queer individuals. 

Many families across the world have been aided by surrogacy, and this is the reason behind the amount of pushback. 

CEO of Roots Surrogacy, Brooke Kimbrough, noted for some people, surrogacy is "the only option available to start a family."

And for the so-called "commercialisation" of the practice, she argued contracts are only meant "to protect the parents, the surrogate, and eventually the baby." 

Stephanie continued by stressing this would "impact a large, large demographic” and “could be dangerous,” especially since people would likely still “seek to pursue it” even though it “could potentially be illegal and less safe.”

Brooke doesn't believe the Church understands how a community really feels about the practice. Stephanie said the "vast majority of surrogacy cases” result in “incredible and beautiful relationships."

“I don’t know how something like that could be considered to be exploitative.”

Many have even pointed out since the speech that the Virgin Mary herself was essentially a surrogate to Jesus.