Market expected to grow worldwide in coming years, researchers say
Pope Francis on Monday called for an international ban on surrogate motherhood, calling it a “deplorable” practice that turns an unborn child “into an object of trafficking.”
In a foreign policy address to diplomats accredited to the Holy See, the pontiff said surrogacy “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. A child is always a gift and never the basis of a commercial contract.”
He drew support from several key thought leaders in the 1.3 billion-member worldwide Catholic Church.
Surrogacy and the technology behind it have become big business. Technavio Research said the assisted reproductive technology market is expected to grow by $8.23 billion from 2022 to 2027. Those technologies help make surrogacy possible in many situations. Two years ago, Global Market Insights, a research firm, predicted that the surrogacy market alone would grow from $14 billion in 2022 to $129 billion in 2032.
In many Western nations, surrogates are paid for carrying an embryo to term. Many sign contracts indicating they will abort the embryos for a variety of reasons and often agree to sign away rights to keep the children. Women who initially agree to surrender a child for adoption can later legally reverse the decision.
Chieko Noguchi, executive director of public affairs at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, lauded the papal remarks.
“As Pope Francis stated, with surrogacy, an unborn child is turned into ‘an object of trafficking’ because it exploits the birth mother’s material needs and makes the child the product of a commercial contract,’” she said in a statement. “This is why the Catholic Church teaches that the practice of surrogacy is not morally permissible. Instead, we should pray for, and work towards, a world that upholds the profound dignity of every person, at every stage and in every circumstance of life.”
Source: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2024/jan/8/pope-francis-blasts-surrogate-motherhood-as-deplor/
