German CDU leader Spahn resigns over surrogacy

A senior German conservative politician has resigned from his leadership position after facing intense criticism for having a child through a surrogate mother in the United States, a practice his own party has long opposed. Jens Spahn, the 46-year-old parliamentary leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), stepped down on July 18.

Spahn and his husband, journalist Daniel Funke, announced on July 15 that they had become parents to a son, Georg, born via a surrogate in the U.S. While raising a child born through surrogacy abroad is not illegal in Germany, the practice itself is prohibited under the country's 1990 Embryo Protection Act, which can impose prison sentences or fines. The CDU reaffirmed its support for this ban at a party conference in February.

The announcement triggered accusations of hypocrisy from across the political spectrum, including from within Spahn's own party. Critics noted that Spahn, a former health minister, had personally resisted efforts to legalize or ease restrictions on surrogacy. In a 2015 article, he wrote that as a gay man and a Christian, he found it difficult to "warm to the...