Union parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn (CDU, r.) and his husband Daniel Funke are happy about their baby Georg: In addition to many congratulations, they also receive critical comments.Image: DPA
The Union is strictly against surrogacy. Parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn and his husband chose the route abroad – and thus drew criticism.
July 17, 2026, 10:35 a.mJuly 17, 2026, 11:07 am
Marisa Lattemann / t-online
Union parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn and his husband Daniel Funke caused quite a stir in Germany with the announcement of their parenthood. Under the picture of the two with the stroller, there were congratulations on social networks for the two fathers’ happiness with the baby. However, a number of critical comments aimed at the fact that, according to the “Bild” newspaper, the two sought the help of a surrogate mother in the USA. This type of wish to have children is forbidden in Germany – a legal situation that the CDU and CSU expressly support.
A pregnancy with a surrogate mother is caused by the embryo being created outside the womb from an egg and a sperm cell and placed in the uterus of the carrying woman. This must be hormonally adjusted beforehand to begin the pregnancy. Often several attempts are necessary. If the surrogate mother is pregnant, she and the baby will receive the usual medical care and be examined at certain intervals.
To protect women, the procedure is illegal in Germany. Even women who decide to do this voluntarily and free of charge – for example queer women who become pregnant with their partner’s egg and want to raise the child with her – cannot do this in Germany.
Women often become surrogate mothers out of financial necessity
The result is that many couples who want to have children and have the necessary money move abroad. Here women sometimes become surrogate mothers due to financial necessity. They often have less access to medical care and sometimes become pregnant in quick succession in order to support themselves and their families. Commercial surrogacy is common in India, Thailand and Ukraine, for example.
A woman in the USA carried the child for Spahn and his husband. They had made this public themselves in the past few days. Both have been recognized as fathers in the USA, which also results in recognition in Germany. The CDU explicitly spoke out against surrogacy at its federal party conference in Stuttgart in February. When asked on Thursday, those close to Spahn said that he generally did not derive any political demands from his private life.
CDU politicians criticize Spahn
The head of the seniors’ union, Hubert Hüppe, was “personally shocked” by the news about Jens Spahn’s decision to have a surrogate mother. “As the CDU, we have a clear decision from the federal party conference that we reject surrogacy. The CDU was the party that was said to be the clearest on the issue,” Hüppe told “Spiegel”. “Of course I can understand that everyone wants to have a child, including homosexual couples, but it’s about whether women are being exploited,” said Hüppe.
Hubert Hüppe, Federal Chairman of the Senior Citizens’ Union: Italy as a role model?Image: www.imago-images.de
He is pushing for surrogacy abroad to be banned in Germany. “Instead of legalizing it, we should think about taking the Italian route and criminalizing surrogacy abroad.” The right-wing coalition under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has banned surrogacy abroad in order to protect the “traditional family” (Watson reported).
Sean Zielinski, deputy chairman of the Union’s social-political workers’ wing (CDA), also sharply criticized Spahn on Instagram: “If the CDU and CSU reject surrogacy for ethical reasons and the Union as a legislator also prohibits it, then this standard should also apply to its leading representatives.” It’s about credibility, Zielinski continued. Because political integrity is shown “when ethical principles also apply when they affect one’s own life.”
SPD for surrogacy in Germany too
A spokeswoman for the Women’s Union told the Reuters news agency that, in her view, there would be “no reason to change the current legal situation in Germany regarding surrogacy in the future.” This position also underlines the CDU’s decision-making position. A CDU spokeswoman made a similar statement: “The CDU in Germany has a clear party conference decision. From the party’s perspective, the current legal situation in Germany should remain as it is,” she said.
The SPD member of the Bundestag Carmen Wegge: “A regulation must contain sufficient protection against the exploitation of women.”Image: www.imago-images.de
SPD Bundestag member Carmen Wegge sees it differently. “I was surprised to find that Jens Spahn has moved away from his position on surrogacy,” said Wegge, spokeswoman for law and consumer protection, to “Spiegel”. “Those who can afford it choose to go through a surrogate mother abroad instead of, for example, adopting a foster or adopted child. Especially abroad, surrogacy often takes place in a legal environment that does not adequately protect women from health and financial exploitation. She considers this to be highly problematic.
In the last legislative period, she worked intensively on the commission report on reproductive rights and is “therefore in favor of introducing altruistic surrogacy within narrow limits in Germany.” The surrogate mother would not receive any payment for the pregnancy itself, but only reimbursement for her actual costs, such as medical care. Wegge believes: “A regulation must contain sufficient protection against exploitation of women as well as clear rules and limits.”
From our series “(un)fulfilled desire to have children” from 2024, but still relevant: