Pope Francis calls for global ban on surrogacy

• "I deem deplorable 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," Francis said.
• Adding that having a child should never be the "basis of a commercial contract," Francis appealed on the international community to ban the practice universally.

The big picture: Surrogacy is controversial in some parts of the world, with many countries — including Italy — banning the practice.

• This isn't the first time Francis has come out against surrogacy. In 2022, he termed it "uterus for rent" and called it inhumane, per Vatican News.
• Notably, the Vatican's doctrine office has said that children born via surrogacy can be baptized, per the New York Times.

There are two types of surrogacy — gestational or traditional — that are distinguished by how the embryo is created.

• In gestational surrogacy, the surrogate mother does not provide the egg for fertilization. In traditional surrogacy, the surrogate mother's own biological eggs are used for the fertilization process.
• Pope Francis did not draw a distinction in his remarks between the two types. He referred to the practice only generally.

Worth noting: Surrogacy often allows same-sex couples and people struggling with infertility to have children when they may not otherwise be able.

• Francis recently approved allowing priests to bless same-sex couples.

Zoom out: In other parts of his address on Monday, Francis mentioned the Israel-Hamas war, migration and the climate crisis.