Catholicism And Surrogacy

Catholicism relies on numerous scriptural passages to guide adherents on the ethical issue of commercial surrogacy. While there are no explicit scripture references that relate to the prohibition of surrogacy, there are indications of how the issue violates human dignity, as “children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward” (Psalm 127:3). This reflects the perspective that children are gifts from God, not commodities to be commissioned at will and therefore must be treated with the same level of respect and love for God. Human life is sacred and comes intentionally from God who “formed you in the womb” (Jeremiah 1:5); when a baby comes into existence, it is sacred by the means of the mark of God. Sexual intercourse in

This also violate the spouses “right to become a father and a mother only through each other.” (Church, Catechism of Catholic, n.d., p. 2376). These techniques can be associated with acts of flesh including sexually immoral and impure methods of procreation which are contrary to the Gospel and will not allow adherents to “inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal 5:21). Given that marriage, sexual intercourse and human life are all considered sacred, it can be interpreted that surrogacy violates this trilogy of procreation, separating essential parts that allow children to be the “fruit of the specific act of the conjugal love of his parents” (Church, Catechism of Catholic, n.d., p. 2378). This desecrates the dignity and right of the child to be conceived, carried in the womb and be raised by its biological parents. From a Deontological framework perspective, this constitutes a division between a person’s duties to obey God’s intentions and the intended parent’s desires. The Natural Law further supports this indicating that the ideal environment for a child to be welcomed is through the heterosexual embrace of sexual intercourse; this act being performed outside of marriage violates one of