Overview
- Reporting on CDU politician Jens Spahn and his partner has returned surrogacy and egg donation to the public eye by revealing they used an egg donation abroad.
- Germany's Embryo Protection Law of 1991 outlaws surrogacy and egg donation and makes clinics and medical staff criminally liable while leaving donors, surrogates and intended parents largely unpunished.
- That enforcement focus creates a practical loophole that lets well‑resourced Germans arrange treatments overseas where the law does not reach.
- There is no current parliamentary majority to legalize surrogacy, with parties such as the CDU opposing change and debates centering on tightly regulated, noncommercial models.
- Experts warn that allowing only altruistic payments to surrogates while permitting profit for clinics or brokers would create structural inequality, so proposals favor nonprofit or strict oversight to protect women and prevent commodification.