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German conservative leader Jens Spahn resigns over surrogacy scandal
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Jens Spahn, parliamentary leader of Germany's CDU/CSU conservative bloc, resigned on July 18th 2026 after a surrogacy scandal. Spahn and his husband had a baby via a surrogate in America, despite surrogacy being illegal in Germany and Spahn himself having argued it should remain so. The hypocrisy sparked public outrage, forcing his resignation just as Chancellor Friedrich Merz's government was gaining stability. The scandal has thrown Germany's conservatives into turmoil, undermining Merz's coalition at a critical time.
Source report
Spahn out
Just when Friedrich Merz’s government was getting its act together
Jul 23rd 2026 | BERLIN | 3 min read
Photograph: AFP
Jens Spahn, until recently the parliamentary leader of Germany’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU), its sister party, is deficient in sharp political instincts. On July 15th Mr Spahn said on social media and in an interview with Bild, a tabloid, that he and his husband had had a baby boy via a surrogate in America. Unfortunately for him, that looked to voters like brazen hypocrisy. Surrogacy is illegal in Germany and Mr Spahn, a conservative former health minister, had argued that it should remain so. Three days later he resigned.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Spahn out”
From the July 25th 2026 edition
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German politician Jens Spahn faces resignation calls over US surrogacy hypocrisy