Pope Leo XIV has criticised surrogacy as a birth option, saying it distorts the original relational calling of the family.

Addressing members of the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See, the Pope emphasised the church’s rejection of “any practice that denies or exploits the origin of life and its development”.

Surrogacy was named as one such practice.

 Surrogacy is an arrangement where a woman carries a baby for an intended parent who cannot have children.

Intended parents typically work with agencies for matching, medical screenings, and legal contracts establishing parentage with compensation for the process.

Surrogacy has become significantly more common globally in recent years, driven by rising infertility rates, technological advances in IVF, and shifting social attitudes toward alternative family-building.

“Life, in fact, is a priceless gift that develops within a committed relationship based on mutual self-giving and service,” the Pope said.

“By transforming gestation into a negotiable service, this violates the dignity both of the child, who is reduced to a ‘product,’ and of the mother, exploiting her body and the generative process, and distorting the original relational calling of the family.”

He also named abortion and euthanasia as violations of the right to life.

“In this regard, the Holy See expresses deep concern about projects aimed at financing cross-border mobility for the purpose of accessing the so-called ‘right to safe abortion.’  It also considers it deplorable that public resources are allocated to suppress life, rather than being invested to support mothers and families,” he said.

“The primary objective must remain the protection of every unborn child and the effective and concrete support of every woman so that she is able to welcome life.”

Euthanasia is the intentional ending of a person’s life to relieve suffering from a painful, incurable condition, often involving a doctor administering lethal medication at the patient’s request or when consent is impossible.

Established euthanasia laws exist in places like Belgium, the Netherlands, Canada, Spain, New Zealand, and, most recently, Uruguay.

The pope said in situations when sick or isolated persons struggle to find a reason to continue living, civil society and states have a responsibility to respond concretely to situations of vulnerability, offering solutions to human suffering, such as palliative care, and promoting policies of authentic solidarity, rather than encouraging “deceptive forms of compassion” such as euthanasia.