German lawmaker steps down over surrogate pregnancy controversy: party sources to AFP

A prominent figure in German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's centre-right party resigned his leadership post Saturday, party sources told AFP, amid controversy over his use of a surrogate mother in the US despite a ban on the practice in Germany.

"In recent days, I have come to realise that my personal happiness in starting a family with my husband and becoming a father is incompatible with my political office," Jens Spahn, the chairman of the CDU's faction in parliament, wrote in a letter to colleagues that was obtained by AFP.

The CDU party is vehemently opposed to surrogate pregnancies, having most recently voted to maintain Germany's ban at a party congress in February.

At the time, the surrogate mother contracted by Spahn was around four months pregnant with the child, according to the Bild newspaper. Spahn and his husband recently welcomed the child, with news breaking in the German media earlier this week.

That decision immediately attracted criticism from within the CDU, including calls for Spahn to resign, as well as charges of hypocrisy from other politicians.

Spahn had initially sought to defend himself in a podcast interview with the Bild newspaper on Friday.

He said he "had "wrestled with myself for a long time, including on the issue of surrogacy" before finally deciding to have a child that way.

- 'Difficult' balancing act -

But on Saturday, Spahn told his colleagues that the "balancing act between my private decision to have a child through surrogacy and the understandable expectations placed on me as chairman of our parliamentary group has proven more difficult than I had anticipated".

A number of CDU politicians had urged Spahn to give up his leadership post, arguing that his decision to use a surrogate mother despite the party's clear position was untenable.

Among those calling for Spahn's ouster was the regional CDU party chairman in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, who on Friday called Spahn's decisions "completely unacceptable".

Merz declined on Friday to weigh in publicly on Spahn's future in the party, though he personally congratulated the lawmaker on becoming a parent.

Merz, however, had warned on Friday that the party's national executive committee would be discussing the matter, and also said he saw "no reason" to change Germany's laws on surrogate pregnancy or alter the CDU's longstanding opposition.

Spahn, 46, previously served as health minister during the Covid-19 pandemic under former chancellor Angela Merkel.

In recent years, he has become a prominent voice on the CDU's right-wing flank, notably pushing for a more hardline stance on immigration.

bst/rmb

© Agence France-Presse