Some people will be “shocked and upset” by the Pope’s comments on surrogacy, a mother has said. 

Earlier this week, Pope Francis delivered a speech in which he urged world leaders to work "to prohibit this practice universally" and said an unborn child should not be "suppressed or turned into an object of trafficking".

One woman with a personal interest in the Catholic Church’s views on surrogacy is Gráinne, whose son Oisín was born through surrogacy in June last year.

“I’m a practising Catholic, go to Mass every week,” she told Lunchtime Live.

“So, I knew it was frowned upon, to put it mildly.

“I contacted our local priest and explained we were getting married but we were also doing surrogacy.

“If he had a problem with that and it meant we couldn’t get married, we would suffer the consequences, no problem.”

Instead of condemnation, the priest sent her back a “very warm” email and said he was really looking forward to their wedding and meeting their baby when it was born.

It was exactly the kind of compassion that Gráinne had hoped she would get from her parish priest.

“I think the individual priests, they are the ones that provide the softness and the understanding,” she said.

Complexity

Although Gráinne is in favour of surrogacy and understands why some people will be “shocked and upset” by the Pope’s comments, she also believes the issue is a complex one.

“I think he [the Pope] is looking at countries where the lady… is being forced to do it,” she said.

“Or you have a known celebrity going in with a shopping cart, looking for a 6 ft 4 blue eyed, blonde child.

“These things don’t seem right… but where it’s facilitating people to have their own children… I just don’t see that any religion, when you get down to it… would frown upon it really.”

The Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022 will introduce new regulations governing surrogacy and is currently at its third stage in Dáil Éireann.

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Main image: Close up of a couple touching the stomach of a pregnant woman as they are having a child through surrogacy. Image: Photononstop / Alamy Stock Photo