Jens Spahn, the head of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag, has announced his resignation, as pressure built over his decision to have a child through a surrogate mother in the United States.
In a letter to members of the Union group, he said that he had already informed German Chancellor and CDU leader Friedrich Merz and CSU leader Markus Söder of his decision.
"I have informed the party leaders of the CDU and CSU, Friedrich Merz and Markus Söder, that with this letter to our group I am stepping down from my post as chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag," Spahn wrote.
Spahn thanked Merz and Söder for "the trust placed in me," but he said his "personal happiness, starting a family with my husband and becoming a father, is not compatible with my political office."
Spahn went on: "The balancing act between my private decision to have a child via surrogacy and the understandable expectation of me as leader of our group has become greater than I had anticipated."
