Jens Spahn, the chair of the center-right conservative party CDU's faction in parliament, resigned his leadership post on Saturday amid controversy over his use of a surrogate mother despite a ban on the practice in Germany.
"In recent days, I have come to realize that my personal happiness in starting a family with my husband and becoming a father is incompatible with my political office," Spahn wrote in a letter to colleagues.
Spahn's surrogacy use sparks political debate
Earlier this week, Spahn and his husband announced that they became parents with the help of a surrogate mother in the US. "It's hard to put this feeling into words." Spahn told German mass-circulation tabloid BILD. "My husband has become a dad, and so have I. Georg is our whole world."
Spahn (right) and Daniel Funke, seen here at an event in 2025, were married in 2017Image: Annette Riedl/dpa/picture alliance
