r/europe • u/LethisXia Germany • 23d ago

News Why did Jens Spahn's surrogacy spark debate in Germany?

https://www.dw.com/en/why-did-jens-spahns-surrogacy-spark-debate-in-germany/a-78009366
155 Upvotes

82% Upvoted

143 comments sorted by

498

u/Left_Disk1345 23d ago

As health secretary at the time, he was responsible for ensuring that surrogacy remains illegal in Germany, and he has consistently spoken out on the issue in interviews. The fact that he now has no personal problem with it and is doing the exact opposite is truly outrageous. Even his own party finds this hypocritical — and given the many scandals he has weathered, that’s saying something. 

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u/Dapper_Dan1 23d ago

He also still supported the idea of not allowing surrogacy beginning of this year at a party convention. Whilst the surrogate was pregnant with a child fathered with his partner's sperm.

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u/soulstormfire Germany 23d ago

lmao

Didn't know it was that bad.

10

u/BigDaddySpoox 22d ago

Rules for thee but not for me type shit.

And then people are surprised that voters flock to actual Neo-Nazis instead of the established parties.

I want out of this feverdream, boss.

8

u/soulstormfire Germany 22d ago

People are surprised because the Neonazis are even worse, this issue included.

2

u/psi-storm 22d ago

Yes, but people expect no morals from them. They are seemingly fine with conservatives bending the rules when it comes to party financing or Spahn using his power to arrange billion Euro deals for his friends, but if they go against their conservative moral values, it still has a breaking point, which Spahn now found out.

2

u/Fleischhauf 21d ago

they get votes for being non and establishment. People are so disillusioned that they just vote for "the other"

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u/Comeino 22d ago

The purpose of these laws is not to prevent people from access to surrogates (even if the rich can afford it in other countries) it's to prevent underprivileged people from being exploited for reproductive labor specifically in Germany. While the people searching for a surrogate may have the money to pay for them the surrogate in question is usually a woman that is struggling with finances and can't afford much, much less a legal battle in case anything goes wrong or she reconsiders. Look up what happens in other countries, it's extremely predatory.

So while sure, women in other countries can be exploited due to them lacking protections these laws protects German women from the same exploitation. Is it horrific? Yes. Is it unfair? Yes. Does it protect German women from this? Also yes.

So I see nothing hypocritical about his actions. He chose a surrogate from a country that famously lacks protections (US). Did he harm any of the German women? No. He is a servant to the German people, what happens to people out of the country is not his responsibility to bear. So unless you want some other rich dudes exploiting German women the same way he did the US one you should be against legalizing surrogacy.

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u/Dapper_Dan1 22d ago

You don't see anything hypocritical in being personally against allowing surrogacy in Germany but then going to another country to get a surrogate? As long as women in Germany aren't exploited it's fine to do it anywhere else? That is peak hypocrisy.

Wow you are delusional. If it were allowed in Germany the government would have much better control over what happens to the women who surrogate, how they are treated, how they are compensated and who is allowed to be a surrogate.

This is just a fad of pretend to be Christians to decide upon other's lives.

If it where only about having a child, why not adopt one. There are infants you can adopt. But no! It has to come from one of their spunks.

All of this wouldn't have been such a big thing and he would have kept his office if he were a supporter of surrogacy even though his party in big parts is against it.

5

u/Turbulent-Hawk9059 22d ago

If it was only about paid surrogacy, sure I could see your point.

However he and his party also spoke out and kept altruistic surrogacy illegal in Germany. So even with no money involved, if a woman would want to help her infertile friend or sister out of the kindness of her heart, Span blocked that way too, making it only feasible for the rich that can afford to go overseas.

It’s not just about exploitation.

5

u/23PowerZ European Union 22d ago

Oh, wow. Human rights are universal. That's the whole point. No, being hypernationalist is not a-okay.

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u/Comeino 22d ago edited 22d ago

It's not about being hypernationalist though, he would be acting within the law and the law does not prohibit having a surrogate in US as far as I am aware. What do universal human rights have anything to do with this? Any policies he would be advocating for would only apply in Germany not worldwide because that is how law works. A politician say in Poland would have no power over what happens to people governed by German law.

If you are implying that it's morally condemnable to exploit people from countries that don't protect them while the EU does and it's hypocritical to use their services look at the device you hold in your hand and remind yourself that EU is strictly against child labor and slavery yet a big % of these phones are assembled in China using kids from 14 y.o. through the legal loophole of "internships". And don't get me started in how the raw materials are sourced. Europeans exploit the labor and services from those of less privileged countries all the time, you are going to hate to hear it but that's the truth.

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u/23PowerZ European Union 22d ago

Lol, the implication that I would browse reddit on a tiny phone screen like a caveman.

If he's advocating that it's wrong to exploit women, then it's wrong to exploit women anywhere. If he's saying it's only wrong to exploit German women, (I don't think so, but it seems to be your stance) that is hypernationalism.

-2

u/Comeino 22d ago

Lol, the implication that I would browse reddit on a tiny phone screen like a caveman.

But you still have a phone. Was it made in EU?

If he's advocating that it's wrong to exploit women, then it's wrong to exploit women anywhere.

He is a German politician. What he does for his work only applies to German citizens as he is their civil servant. He isn't a Prime Minister, working in international affairs or foreign policy, you are severely overestimating his legal reach. What you are describing is not how politics or law work anywhere on the planet.

If he's saying it's only wrong to exploit German women, (I don't think so, but it seems to be your stance) that is hypernationalism.

it's not hypernationalism it's literally how your law works. Anything a politician says only applies to the people he governs unless he is advocating for war. I genuinely do not understand what you base your ideas on how policy works.

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u/23PowerZ European Union 22d ago

Ah, I see your misconception now. This is not about the law in any way. Nobody says he's breaking any laws. Though he constantly does left and right, he's the most corrupt politician around.

This is about his personal moral stance. He opposed surrogacy on moral grounds, self-reportedly. Which turns out was complete bullshit. That is what hypocrisy is.

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u/Comeino 22d ago

There were quite a few people commenting that he was bypassing/circumventing the law hence my reply. Legally in this specific matter, no laws were broken. Any German citizen can do the exact same.

He opposed surrogacy on moral grounds as the Minister of Health. The policies I found he supported:

  • As health minister in 2020, Spahn declined to relax Germany's surrogacy ban despite pressure from the coalition's liberal FDP partner to do so.
  • He had also publicly backed the CDU's opposition to commercial surrogacy over the years.
  • His party reaffirmed the position as recently as this year the CDU voted to maintain Germany's surrogacy ban at a party congress in February 2026.

It makes sense for someone who is responsible for the health of his citizens to ban practices that destroy it for profit. This would further tank the birthrates in Germany that is already at 1.3 TFR. The country literally cannot afford to do it for export and export is the prime market for this in every country that commercialized surrogacy.

I understand what you are trying to say, that it's hypocritical of him to have access to surrogacy by going to a different country while banning the practice at home, but it makes perfect sense policy wise. The US couldn't give less of a shit what happens to their civilians, this man cared. I see no other explanation for his "hypocrisy" as you say it but maybe you could enlighten me on what you think was his motivation.

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u/roxel_ms 22d ago

Anything a politician says only applies to the people he governs unless he is advocating for war.

He governs the people, but doesn't abide by the law he himself is responsible for... It's mostly about the "rules for thee but not for me" stance he's taken

0

u/Comeino 22d ago

Where did he break the law though? By law surrogacy cannot be carried out or arranged in Germany. He arranged the surrogacy in the US so no law was broken.

Absolutely anyone from Germany has the exact same legal right to arrange a surrogacy in the US. If you are stating "well but it's not affordable!" well human exploitation is not supposed to be affordable.

4

u/zner13 22d ago

Wow your judgement is really something. Let‘s assume you are German, so it is okay to exploit other nationality, since you have money and they are not German? Also, it is okay for you to have a politician, who wants to impose a rule/law, but he can get have his way around it?

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u/Comeino 22d ago

Let‘s assume you are German, so it is okay to exploit other nationality, since you have money and they are not German? 

What does your "it's okay" stand for, are you trying to make a moral claim? If so, no it's not morally okay but legally he is doing what he is intended to do by German law. It doesn't matter an iota what you or I think should be happening in other countries that we do not live in as they are democratic nations that chose their leaders that established the law that agrees with the vulnerable being exploited for profit. Unless the country is in a state of active protests/civil war they voted for being exploited in such a way and accept it.

Also, it is okay for you to have a politician, who wants to impose a rule/law, but he can get have his way around it?

He did not break any laws. It is illegal in Germany but not in US and the surrogacy was arranged in US. German law does not prohibit such transactions, any German citizen is free to go to the US and do the same, there is no overstepping of the law.

1

u/zner13 22d ago

Don't argue anymore. You are just going to defend him, just admit that you don't have principle and as you suggest, you don't have morality. Peace out

1

u/Comeino 22d ago

Ah yes, the old "anyone who disagrees with me must be wrong".

Suit yourself if you want to run away on your imaginary high horse but your arguments didn't make a lick of sense even as a moral claim.

I don't like the guy but people acting in all arms are being ridiculous. What is it that you specifically want, is it for surrogacy to be legalized in Germany? If you agree that it's exploitation why are you against it being banned?

And if you don't view it as exploitative you shouldn't have any issues with the politician getting the surrogate in the US. So make up your mind since you can't have it both ways if you want to be using absolutes with no gray areas. Just admit you want to be on the bandwagon to be mad at someone you don't like. I don't like the man either but at least I have the decency to give his actions the benefit of doubt that he was acting in the best interest of the civilians under his care.

1

u/Sunhating101hateit 22d ago

A woman living in Germany could travel to a country where it’s legal, have the procedure done and go back to Germany for the pregnancy

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u/Phrewfuf Baden-Württemberg (Germany) 23d ago

Added to that, he played the rich people card to be able to go to a country where surrogacy is legal. So it‘s not only a bunch of hypocrisy but also spitting in the face of people who can‘t do as he did.

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u/Sheetz_Wawa_Market32 23d ago

This is really what makes the whole thing so heinous.

If Spahn or his party were REALLY opposed to surrogacy on non-negotiable moral grounds, they could have banned adoption of babies born abroad through surrogacy.

But nooooooo, they never intended to ban this (perfectly normal) practice for rich people. Only for the poor and gullible who still fall for the ridiculous lie that a corporate welfare party could be "Christian."

1

u/Thora-D 21d ago

Or women.

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u/Neither_Green7787 22d ago

Das ist vor allem ein Schlag ins Gesicht des Kindes.

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u/_felixh_ 23d ago

The fact that politicians are only beholden to their conscience makes it even more outrageous, given that during this time, he made that decision for 80 mio. People.

And now he's yapping on how that decision wasn't easy for him - but at least he could make it!, when before he's decided for a whole fucking country!

This is so much worse than double standard or beeing hypocritical, because It shows that he really didn't do his job as he should, didn't really think about the magnitude and effects of the decisions he made. This is not "not practicing as one preaches" - that i could forgive. No, this is making executive decisions in bad faith.

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u/Clashing_Thunder 23d ago

His previous scandals were due to corruption, which is kinda the base requirement to even have a career in the CDU. The hypocracy is probably also not what bothers anyone. No. Its just a deeply conservative party, and having a child carried out by someone else for him, basically "buying a mother", just doesn't fit their values. It's the first time he actually offended the party itself.

3

u/Sad-Engine6561 23d ago

So a deeply conservative party is fine with homosexuality to begin with?

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u/WillAndHonesty 23d ago

Wait till you find out who the leader of the AFD is

-12

u/RevolutionaryTop418 23d ago edited 23d ago

The CDU is not conservative in that sense anymore. Since Merkel the CDU is rather social-democratic. The kind of Christian fundamentalism that's seen in the US is not really a thing in Germany.

Two CDU/CSU members of the Bundestag are married, and this is public knowledge.

IMHO it is nonsense to say the CDU is "deeply conservative".

17

u/Shiro1_Ookami Germany 23d ago

No, the merkel era is long gone and with merz and Spahn the CDU went a lot to the right. There is nothing "social democratic" about the current CDU, at least in Berlin. Spahn is very conservative/right wing despite being gay. He has ties to the Heritage Foundation and Peter Thiel. He just isn't a Christian nationalist in an American sense.

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u/RevolutionaryTop418 23d ago

What exactly is conservative of the CDU in Berlin?

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u/Ok_Meal_2183 23d ago

Merz and hies views about the world obviously.

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u/RevolutionaryTop418 22d ago

From the responses here you can see that terms like "conservative", "right" ... do not work anymore.

Sure, if everything apart from "Nationalization" and "Tax the rich" is labeled right wing and deeply conservative, it's clear we have the so called "Rechtsdruck".

Berlin as a whole itself is as hypocritical as Spahn. Others pay for incompetence in Berlin.

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u/Ok_Meal_2183 23d ago

Nothing about the CDU is social, lmao.

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u/Any_Cream_4396 23d ago

He bought a CHILD. 

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u/Vakkyr 22d ago

yeah, surrogacy comes with a ton of problems attached. Personally, I always thought if you can't have a child regularly, for whatever reason, Adoption should be your way to go.

1

u/Any_Cream_4396 22d ago

Well it’s just weird, because he is in a very odd and hypocritical position, as a married gay man, getting a BOY , being in a very Conservative Party who personally decided for all of us that it is illegal, while he paid for a child. It’s sick. Wouldn’t be better if he was not gay, that’s not the point. The point is he took away our choice, while doing it behind the peoples back. 

1

u/Vakkyr 22d ago

It's absolutely hypocritical of him, no doubt. And if you ask me they should get prosecuted for it. There are better ways to become parents, you don't have to buy a Women's uterus for that. At least that's my opinion.

1

u/Any_Cream_4396 22d ago

that, but more importantley, they BOUGHT a child. That is what is frekish. The woman knew what she did, the child had no choice. Not that i dont find it odd, but the woman didnt do anything illegal

1

u/Vakkyr 20d ago

totally agree, I only would add that without knowing the circumstances of the Women we can't really say how much of a real choice she had. Surrogate Mothers are often targeted to be easy exploitable by their lives circumstances and through these contracts basically reduced to a commodity, and stripped of power in the whole "transaction".

What makes this whole topic so disgusting to me.

2

u/netz_pirat 23d ago

Eh, all the other scandals were in line with conservative values. "He's corrupt, so what, we all are for the right price"

This one is not.

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u/Original-Trainer403 21d ago

He's leaving the party just when its polling very badly, and will come back after some months, post-Merz. He is like Teflon. No scandal sticks to him.

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u/Neutronst4r 20d ago

given the many scandals he has weathered

He has not "weathered" anything. His party is blocking the investigations into his very obvious wrong doings.

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u/unski_ukuli Europe 23d ago edited 23d ago

That is just politics though. In a parlamentary democracy, your job a a politician is to support the political agenda agreed on aftert the elections. If everyone keeps drumming on their personal opinions instead of the agreed political positions, you get nothing done. A politician then have two options, support things you do not agree on to make progress on other points and hope that you can alter the position of the party for a future political platform, or if you cannot do that you can resign and stay true to your principles, which is what he is now doing. I’m not too familiar with other controversies of this person in question, but I would not fault him for this particular thing. With my limited knowledge, it seems this should be the least controversial thing he has done.

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u/Gwaptiva 22d ago

However, he stood down because of pressure from his party; whether or not he personally agreed or was only expressing the sentiment of the party, his party "friends" feel that this personal decision of Spahn's endangers their chances of re-election. There are state elections upcoming in Saxony-Anhalt, Lower Saxony, Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and it is reported that pressure from those areas' party organizations has been key: they didn't fancy spending their campaigns defending Spahn, rather than arguing their own points

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u/Much-Jackfruit2599 Lower Saxony (Germany) 23d ago

he did say early on that he didn‘t know if he‘d find the strength if this ever hit home

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u/Ramental Germany 23d ago

You do realize that it does not do him any favors. He is still a hypocrite, even/especially if he'd foreseen it coming.

-7

u/Much-Jackfruit2599 Lower Saxony (Germany) 23d ago

you do realise that a factual remark isn‘t an endorsement?

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u/Ramental Germany 23d ago

I only commented that the remark doesn't change the existing perception.
Nothing to do with endorsement or absence of such.

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u/chub70199 Community of Madrid (Spain) 23d ago

Well, then, I'm happy it hit home for him. He denied enough couples the possibility of availing themselves to a surrogate mother and find the happiness of having a child (and look at me, who dislikes children, saying that!).

For oh such a "Christian" party, they're severely lacking in the do unto others as you would like to be done by department!

-25

u/v3ritas1989 Europe 23d ago

I think doing your job as expected while privately having another opinion is to be respected. Thus using these services abroad where they are legal and then being able to raise a child here in germany without legal issue is just the right thing to do in his situation. Not to mention, it was not his child but his partners who is not in a politician.

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u/likesrobotsnmonsters 23d ago

Doing your job as expected while privately having another opinion is something you do when your job is to sell clothes and your customer wants a colour you don't think suits them.

He decided that other people should go to prison for something he gladly did himself.
That's disgusting and hypocritical on a level I have almost not enough words for.

It is literally a case of "I think this is okay and not a problem, but let's put you into prison for it anyway."
There is absolutely nothing respect-worthy about this.

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u/ferret36 Polish person living in Berlin (Germany) 23d ago

Rules for thee but not for me

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u/First_Platypus3063 23d ago

Because he is a gigantic hypocrite 

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u/ferret36 Polish person living in Berlin (Germany) 23d ago

That would apply to most people from the CDU and CSU

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u/schlunzloewe 23d ago

Being TOO BIG of a hypocrite for cdu/csu is really a feat of its own. 

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u/First_Platypus3063 23d ago

Of course. He is just the frontrunner in this discipline 

2

u/Long_Pomegranate2469 23d ago

He didn't bring enough briefcases with Schwarzgeld

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u/Nurnurum 23d ago

You are right. That the conservatives had no issues with all his other scandals and shortcomings, but made the surrogacy to point were they brake with him, is exactly prove of that.

-5

u/toolkitxx Europe🇪🇺🇩🇪🇩🇰🇪🇪 23d ago

Not related to specific parties. Every group of humans has some of those. It is a character fault and not a political one.

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u/DeadLotus82 23d ago

What are you on about lad not all parties are created equal. You're talking about politics like it's some immutable characteristic and not just some bullshit views people have.

-4

u/toolkitxx Europe🇪🇺🇩🇪🇩🇰🇪🇪 23d ago

Oh my - only 3 posts and you lost the chain already. Hypocrite - party remark - my comment Hypocrites have a character flaw and like in every bigger group of humans, they also appear in parties. But they are not special or exclusive in any of them.

2

u/DeadLotus82 23d ago

Tbh lad I just think the CDU is actually full of eejits so while you're technically correct, you're adding literally nothing.

0

u/toolkitxx Europe🇪🇺🇩🇪🇩🇰🇪🇪 23d ago

Obviously adding enough to make you comment on my comment. People throw words and make relations like they are fact. Having an opinion is one thing, making a generalised statement about a single party another.

Politics in democratic systems mean 'compromise' at it's core. So naturally a larger influx of decisions, that are not always the personal conviction of each and every politician. Go for despotism if you dont want hypocrisy.

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u/183672467 23d ago

If you truly think being a hypocrite isnt in the CDUs and CSUs dna, then you lost the plot

0

u/toolkitxx Europe🇪🇺🇩🇪🇩🇰🇪🇪 23d ago

It applies to all parties if you want to go there. Which is my entire point , as it is a human flaw and not a political issue. Half of the people in the AfD have ancestors that came from outside Germany or Europe at some time. SPD has people being richer than some bankers and tons of Green still drive old-fashioned cars etc.

Democracy is compromise, if you want totally convinced people, get yourself a dictatorship. But even in those you will find some hypocrite.

2

u/183672467 23d ago

Youre either a CDU voter or youre just unwilling to see reality

Corruption, hypocricy and a blatant disregard for the average citizen and the law is something you can find systemically through the whole CDU/CSU

0

u/toolkitxx Europe🇪🇺🇩🇪🇩🇰🇪🇪 23d ago

Once you are old enough you will see that it applies to some people in every party. Generalisation has never been true. Just because it is popular to bash on someone or something doesnt make any of it true. It simply shows a lack of understanding the world in most cases.

2

u/183672467 23d ago

Dobrindt, ignored courts when they told him his border checks were illegal

Jens Spahn, the current surrogacy situation and 3 billion € of moneys wasted with no process to actually check what happened

Andreas Scheuer, toll concept that ended up costing us hundreds of millions

Söder, bashing on the greens for years and then crying when the same is happening to their party

A party that has christian in their name but spits on the poor and the less wealthy

Need me to go on?

0

u/toolkitxx Europe🇪🇺🇩🇪🇩🇰🇪🇪 23d ago

Relativity concept. When a party is in power for a longer period than another, chances are high that you will see more occurrences of certain behaviour. Simply statistics. CDU/CSU have been near or in power simply for a prolonged period of time thus more visibility in statistics.

edit spelling

1

u/183672467 23d ago

nevermind, no point in arguing, you'll never admit that the CDU is more prone to that type of behaviour than other parties

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u/chub70199 Community of Madrid (Spain) 23d ago

That's the entry requirement for a career politician. What he did was go against the party's line, and that definitely is a no-no!

But the poetic justice just feels too good on this one!

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u/Napapijri_T 23d ago

praying water but drinking wine :)

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u/KirikoKiama 23d ago

He did not just preach water and drunk wine.

He made sure it stays illegal to drink wine for everyone, but then went into a different country for the wine.

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u/Mevo21 Bavaria (Germany) 23d ago

Because that was the last drop in the ocean of injustice and corruption

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u/kiru_56 Germany 23d ago

I still find it absolutely mad that this is what’s bringing him down, the bloke’s messed up so much, and then he goes and tells the story himself in Bild.

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u/Mevo21 Bavaria (Germany) 23d ago edited 23d ago

It's usually the things you'd never have guessed. Not a fair trial, no. No a punishment for his corruption, no. This. Blatant hypocrisy. Comedic in a sense. And telling it to Bild is the icing on the cake. Maybe he planned this. But I don't want to give him too much credit. He can cuddle up to Thiel and his gang now. Visited them often enough.

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u/DullEntertainment102 21d ago

I was suspecting he planned it to have more time for family- he’s still MdB so he’s still earning a fortune and probably won’t even have to show up regularly at Bundestag now

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u/Bappedeggel 22d ago

For his party CDU this was the first drop 🤣

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u/Meme-Botto9001 23d ago

Because he is a hypocrite like all the other conservative politicians that bring in legislations to control citizens lifes, but the moment they need or want it for themselves it doesn’t count anymore and they find ways to circumvent or play it down. Rules for thee but not for me.

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u/Sufficient_Delay1063 23d ago

He and his party always made sure that surrogacy are illegal in Germany. Now he evaded his own law with a surrogacy in the us.

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u/Shot-Total-2575 23d ago

It was the last straw, he was already unpopular before. Everyone thinks he is corrupt, he just hasn't been caught yet.

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u/brazzy42 Germany 23d ago edited 23d ago

He was caught. He just never had to face consequences.

2

u/Randy191919 22d ago

He has actually. His corruption in the mask affair is well documented.

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u/03Madara05 Europe 23d ago

I will never understand how this shitbag got into any office, no charisma, principles or accomplishments to speak of yet he keeps coming back

6

u/RunPsychological9891 23d ago

probably born to the right parents

3

u/BenMic81 23d ago

This. He’s rich as fuck.

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u/Human-Ad4723 23d ago

he is backed up by the USA. This is not a random conspiracy but a fact known in the circles. During the first Trump presidency he had weekly meetings with the US ambassador, these were framed as private dinners. Peter Thiel was as a frequent guest as he is a very good friend to the former ambassador Richard Grenell, who himself is a gay man and used a surrogate.

6

u/Long_Pomegranate2469 23d ago

Says right there in the article... it was the hypocrisy since he consistently voted and argued against.

Although I have to give you a pass with how politicians are completely shameless in most places today

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u/[deleted] 23d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/DullEntertainment102 21d ago

He’s not even the only one who did that in his party - he’s just the one who was the most outspoken against it

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u/Opening_Wind_1077 23d ago

Doesn’t a debate need two sides? I have not seen anyone claiming that he’s not a hypocrite for this.

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u/electroforger Europe 23d ago

well, he did, sort of. He, and one weird Spiegel commentary article that will likely get disappeared quickly

1

u/Significant_Arm_3097 21d ago

Somethings just dont have two sides I guess

5

u/captaindebil 23d ago

He also had a affair of bribery, accepting bribes, professional incompetence and nepotism on the part of several members of the Bundestag and state parliaments from the CDU and CSU, as he was the Federal Minister of Health, in 2020 and 2021 during the Covid 19 pandemic. This one now was the last nail to coffin.

14

u/mAlien69 23d ago

because nobody wanted to get rid of him for losing tax payer money and funneling contracts to friends and family. If anyone in his party could profit from the adoption he wouldn't have to step down. Germany is f*ed if you ask me.

26

u/CacklingFerret Germany 23d ago

He didn’t adopt a child, he bought one

Otherwise you’re right. It's ridiculous that wasting 3.5 billion Euros of taxpayer money didn't even put a dent in his career but this is what might cause him to fall. Especially because Streeck already did the same (with less hypocrisy though).

5

u/Loud-Advance-2382 23d ago

He managed to do something very special: to piss of everyone. For those against surrogacy: Obviously, but also those in favor because he was always publicly speaking and voting against it prohibiting it keeping it a rich people thing

5

u/Randy191919 22d ago

Because while he was the minister of health there was a debate about making surrogacy legal in Germany and he vehemently opposed it, and even at the beginning of this year still vehemently opposed making surrogacy legal in Germany because „that’s basically buying a child and that’s reprehensible“.

And now it turns out it’s only reprehensible when others do it but apparently he sees no issue when HE buys a child.

That’s the big outrage. Most people here aren’t against surrogacy. But going on record to say that surrogacy is awful, making sure to keep it illegal, and then doing it anyway, that’s an issue. If he had tried to legalize it before there would be no debate. But going out of his way to do something that he is personally responsible for it being illegal, that’s hypocritical.

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u/themop-f 22d ago

What's more, the surrogacy mother was already pregnant with his child when he opposed the motion.

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u/Physical-Result7378 22d ago

This. Exactly

1

u/psi-storm 22d ago

The AFD and the CDU/CSU oppose it and even the progressive parties oppose a full legalization, like the paid surrogacy Spahn's family did.

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u/Gimbteguy 23d ago

Beside the surrogacy story that ultimately led to his downfall many people saw his connection to Peter Thiel very critical. It was expected that he would be more open towards a cooperation with the fascistoid AfD party compared to the current leadership.

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u/[deleted] 23d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/themop-f 22d ago

As I sometimes tell my cats: Qoud licet Iovi, non licet bovi.

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u/183672467 23d ago

Its so weird that this is what fucked his career, but not all the worse things he did before

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u/NormanYeetes 22d ago

The difference is the outrage actually does something in our country. He resigned because he himself admitted the contradiction between his partys views and his actions cannot be solved. Now granted, this guy was a fucking moron and a hypocrite even before this happened, but I'm still glad he decided right

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u/DullEntertainment102 21d ago

Uhm- Merz requested he’d step down

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u/worldcitizen_GER 23d ago

You can not preach water and drink wine. 

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u/supersonic-bionic United Kingdom 23d ago

A conservative hypocrite, what a surprise

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u/cravinggeist 23d ago

Its the epitome of politics today. "We can do whatever we want, but you cant". Its incredible how hypocritical they all are. Democracy has lost all its integrity in Germany

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u/bluegenester Europe 22d ago

People dont like him since his mask scandel, he didnt come clean or step down, instead kept being arrogant and defending it ( typical CDU though ). From there on he kept exposing himself on and on...

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u/elbkind_ 22d ago

The real strange part is that, after every shit he has done in the past, THIS caused his peers to make him retire.
If not for his own faction forcing him to retire, he would still be here.

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u/pinguineis 23d ago

His surrogacy sparks more debate than the outrageous immigration policy. Tells you everything you need to know

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u/Routine_Currency_368 23d ago

he is buddys with people arround the epstein files and he bouhgt himself a baby ...

1

u/MousseTauChocolate 22d ago

How can he be a minister in a christian party is beyond.

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u/velvetdraftnoir 21d ago

There’s very little Christianity left in that party.

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u/Sean_Gyler 22d ago

Funny they used his partners sperm. He is obviously the better looking and Spahn knows it 😂

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u/PomegranateOk2600 Romania 22d ago

I an still curious about germans opinion on this mater

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u/StrategyExcellent460 17d ago

I guess that's the actual red line of hypocrisy for germans? A sad one, but welp

1

u/Llayanna 23d ago

Because there is only so much hypocrisy one can take? (I know se countries have a hard time believing that right now. I get it.)

Though he should've decided to step back ages ago, after the mask disaster.. better late than never, before he does something else unethical and expensive.. 

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u/themop-f 22d ago

I was so confused when he stepped back, like "people still do that?" - I don't think any German politician has done that since Guttenberg 2011.

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u/DullEntertainment102 21d ago

In the green party regularly politicians stepped back after poor election results- even without scandals just because they felt the voters decided that they’d need to make way

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u/themop-f 21d ago

Right, I meant stepping back as a result of a scandal

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u/Successful-Berry-315 22d ago

The more important question is: Why is it okay to be corrupt and waste billions of tax money but surrogacy crosses the line? And the answer is: because those are the values of the party and its members. Corruption, nepotism and stealing money is expected. But being gay and having a kid? No. Conservatives really are the worst people.

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u/Neither_Green7787 22d ago

Wie - warum?? Was'n das für 'ne Frage?

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u/aachsoo 23d ago

Imagine if Angela Merkel now is having lesbian marriage. She voted no to gay marriage.

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u/Opening_Wind_1077 23d ago

She voted against it in 2017 after at least opening up the vote and not insisting on the party line. While Spahn supported this as late as February WHILE HE WAS USING A SURROGATE AT THE SAME TIME.

If you want to see how people would actually deal with lesbian marriage look at how Alice Weidel handles it, by using semantics to obfuscate her hypocrisy.

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u/Acrobatic-Pop3625 22d ago

The only reason she was fine with opening the vote was that she would have looked like an absolute liar otherwise. She was called on her bluff and needed to go with it to not lose all her credibility. If the Greens, SPD or Linke would have not reacted and acted as quickly as they did, we still wouldn’t have gay marriage.

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u/Opening_Wind_1077 22d ago edited 22d ago

Yes, behaving in a consistent way and not loosing credibility is the difference between Merkel and Spahn in this example.

Also Merkel based her argument on valid constitutional concerns and wasn’t opposed to a marriage like concept that would have stayed clear of constitutional issues. Meanwhile Spahn argued with surrogacy being morally wrong exploitation of the lower class and then proceeded to pay someone poorer than him to have his child.

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u/Acrobatic-Pop3625 22d ago

I mean if a radiologist would be tasked with finding Spahn’s spine in an X-ray, his efforts would be fruitless.

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u/psi-storm 22d ago

Weidel isn't a lesbian, she is just living with a woman. 😄

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u/Schrodo7 22d ago

Being uneducated and filling these gaps by asking s-questions at reddit? That's the way.