German conservative faction leader resigns over surrogate mother scandal
The leader of the conservative faction in the German Bundestag has resigned after it emerged he used a surrogate mother in the US, despite having previously opposed legalizing the practice in Germany.
A scandal has erupted in German politics, leading to the resignation of the leader of the conservative faction in the Bundestag. His actions have drawn criticism from his own party, as the politician, who previously served as health minister, actively opposed the legalization of surrogacy.
German Chancellor and party colleague Friedrich Merz called the resignation "correct and inevitable," stressing that trust is the highest value in politics. The scandal began when the politician publicly announced that he and his partner would become parents – the child was born via a surrogate mother in the United States.
Surrogacy is illegal in Germany, and the politician, while serving as health minister, as well as the CDU as a whole, opposed legalizing the practice. In February 2026, the Christian Democrats passed a resolution at their congress reaffirming their stance, and the politician attended even though his partner's child had already been conceived via surrogacy.
In a 2015 interview with GQ magazine, the politician admitted that as a gay Christian, he found it difficult to accept the idea of a "rented womb." In 2020, when the liberal FDP proposed debates on legalizing surrogacy, he, as health minister, spoke out against it.
According to DPA sources citing insiders, Merz himself demanded the resignation. However, the politician and his partner face no legal consequences, as surrogacy services in the US are legal, and Germany allows raising a child born abroad via surrogacy.
