German government draws line between Streeck and Spahn surrogacy cases after CDU leader's resignation

Two fathers, two outcomes

Germany's coalition government has drawn a sharp distinction between the surrogacy cases of two senior CDU politicians, arguing that drug commissioner Hendrik Streeck faces no credibility problem while former parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn was forced to resign over the same practice. Government spokesman Stefan Kornelius told reporters in Berlin on Monday that Streeck had not advocated positions contradicting his personal life, making a charge of double standards inapplicable.

Herr Streeck has not represented any political demands that contradict his personal way of life. That means there is no question of political credibility in his case.

Streeck and his husband Paul Zubeil confirmed in mid-April to the magazine Bunte that they had become parents of a son. The birth reportedly took place in the US state of Idaho, with media outlets uniformly reporting that a surrogate mother carried the child. Streeck himself has neither confirmed nor denied the surrogacy arrangement.

Spahn's resignation

Jens Spahn stepped down from the CDU/CSU parliamentary group leadership on Saturday after days of criticism from within his own party and beyond. Spahn and his husband had announced the birth of their son, also carried by a surrogate in the United States. Unlike Streeck, Spahn had previously rejected surrogacy in sharp terms, aligning with the official CDU party line.

And therefore I ask that this very clear distinction also be respected.

Even after the criticism surfaced, Spahn refused to reconsider or further explain his earlier position, instead pointing to his private life. That stance sustained the backlash until he announced his departure from the leadership post after brief hesitation.

The legal backdrop

Surrogacy remains illegal in Germany, unlike in the United States and several other countries. Kornelius confirmed that the federal government currently has no initiative to change the legal situation. The CDU had previously adopted a party-conference resolution opposing any legalisation of surrogacy.

Switzerland maintains a similarly split approach, as SRF News reported: domestic surrogacy is banned, but parents who travel abroad face no penalties, and children born via surrogacy can be recognised or adopted upon return. Medizinethiker Jürg Streuli of the National Ethics Commission described the arrangement as a tension between protecting surrogate mothers and safeguarding already-born children.

Surrogacy is banned domestically, among other things to protect the surrogate mother, while at the same time parent-child relationships established abroad are recognised — to protect the child that has already been born.

What happens next

The CDU/CSU parliamentary group will convene a special session on 29 July to decide on Spahn's successor. Chancellor and CDU chairman Friedrich Merz announced the date in coordination with CSU leader Markus Söder during a meeting of the CDU presidium. Streeck, as a sitting CDU Bundestag member, will participate in that vote.

Kornelius declined to engage further on Streeck's situation, citing the drug commissioner's right to privacy and noting that Streeck had not himself publicised the circumstances of his fatherhood. The spokesman added that he personally possessed no additional information on the matter.