Jens Spahn apologizes to CDU members over US surrogacy controversy

Jens Spahn, the former CDU/CSU parliamentary group leader in the Bundestag, has issued a formal apology to the members of his constituency in Steinfurt/Borken regarding his use of surrogacy in the United States.

In a letter addressed to approximately 2,500 party members, Spahn admitted he was ‘too cowardly’ to be transparent about his decision. He acknowledged that his personal choice to use a surrogate mother to have a child with his husband, Daniel Funke, contradicted his previous public stances against surrogacy. Spahn stated that he had failed to explain his changing position in a timely manner, which ultimately led to a more difficult public debate than he had intended.

The controversy surrounding the birth of his son led to Spahn resigning from his leadership position within the parliamentary group in July. Despite this resignation, he remains a member of the Bundestag and has joined the Budget Committee. Spahn explained that his decision-making process involved years of consideration and that he was influenced by US regulations and German legal precedents established in 2018.