Overview
- On Thursday Spahn sent a letter to about 2,500 CDU members in his North Rhine-Westphalia district saying “Ich war zu feige” and apologizing for how he handled the surrogacy matter.
- He admitted the clear contradiction between his earlier public opposition to surrogacy and his private decision and said he had stepped down from party and parliamentary leadership in July as a consequence.
- In the letter Spahn said he chose a U.S. arrangement only after checks showed the surrogate had a family, stable finances, medical and legal supervision, and no genetic link to the child.
- He told members that a 2018 Federal Court of Justice ruling gave him legal reassurance that a U.S. court-established parenthood can be recognised in Germany under conditions, and he now serves on the Bundestag Budget Committee.
- Public and party reaction is divided, with some viewing the apology as a step toward rehabilitation and others as tactical, and the case has reopened debate inside the CDU and in Germany about how to treat foreign surrogacy and political trust.