Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic church, has called for a universal ban on surrogacy.
Francis believed that the commercialization of childbirth is “despicable” and strips poor fertile women of their dignity.
During his New Year address at the Vatican on Monday, the Pope urged diplomats and influential individuals to take action to protect international peace.
He stressed that children should be seen as gifts and not as the result of business transactions.
While surrogacy is already illegal in Italy and some European countries, it is still permitted in Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, the UK, and the Netherlands under certain guidelines.
He said:
“I consider despicable the practice of so-called surrogate motherhood, which represents a grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child, based on the exploitation of situations of the mother’s material needs.
“The path to peace calls for respect for life.
“A child is always a gift and never the basis of a commercial contract.
“Consequently, I express my hope for an effort by the international community to prohibit this practice universally.”
