Jens Spahn, the parliamentary leader of Germany’s governing coalition, has resigned after being accused of hypocrisy over using a surrogate mother in the United States to have a child – a practice he had previously supported banning.
The 46-year-old former health minister and his husband Daniel Funke announced earlier this week that they had become parents. Surrogacy is prohibited in Germany, a ban backed by Spahn’s Christian Democrat party (CDU) and by Spahn himself. In 2015, he wrote: “As a gay man and a Christian I find it personally very hard to warm to the idea of a rented womb.” As health minister in 2020, he rejected calls by the liberal FDP to relax the law.
“German CDU parliamentary leader resigns after surrogacy hypocrisy row”
In a statement on Saturday, Spahn said: “I have realised that my personal happiness – founding a family together with my husband and becoming a father – is not compatible with my political office.” He added that “the increasing relentlessness in public discourse” had given him “deep pause for thought”.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who leads the CDU, called Spahn’s decision “right” and “inevitable”. “Credibility is the highest asset in politics,” Merz wrote on social media, and said he would begin the process of appointing a replacement.
Merz later suggested the resignation “could be an opportunity to think once again about the lineup of the federal government”. In an interview with German broadcaster ZDF, he declined to defend Spahn personally, saying he had not expected outrage “on this scale”. “It probably also had something to do with his person, and also with the communication,” the chancellor said.
Merz revealed that Spahn had told him about the child around 10 days ago and asked him to keep it quiet, which he did. Spahn informed the party “very, very late”, Merz said, and the damage to its credibility became “abundantly clear” on Saturday. “And that’s why we then acted.” German media reported that Merz had asked Spahn to step down.
Alexander Hoffmann, head of the Christian Social Union parliamentary group, will take over Spahn’s duties until a successor is chosen. Hoffmann said Spahn’s decision “deserves the utmost respect”.
Spahn, one of the most powerful figures in the CDU, had survived other political scandals. But the surrogacy controversy proved one too many for his party. The CDU had signed a resolution reaffirming its support for a ban on surrogacy in February.
Merz declined to confirm any names for the succession, though ZDF has floated Thorsten Frei, the chancellor’s chief of staff, as a possible candidate. Promoting Frei would leave Merz with another senior vacancy to fill. The CDU party leadership is expected to discuss the succession in the coming days.
The controversy has plunged Merz’s government into uncertainty at a time when he is already struggling in the opinion polls. With key regional elections looming, the affair risks further damaging the CDU’s credibility.