Angelus News | January 26, 2024 | Vol. 9 No. 2

in the media, the global industry is
expected to become worth $129 billion
in the next decade (up from $14 billion
in 2022).
The desire to have a biological child
is, for many, one of the most powerful
desires in nature. But that desire cannot
change the truth — a truth Christians
like the Holy Father are bound to
proclaim — that no one has a right to
a child. Children are gifts from God to
which we can be open, but can never
demand.
If everyone has the right to purchase a
child on the open market (or even the
“right to procreate” via the financial
support of the government), this feeds
the consumerist throwaway culture
about which the Holy Father rightly
warns us.
But what about mercy and the
Church as a field hospital? My wife
and I — along with so many others —
know firsthand the incredible pain of
infertility. I wish the Holy Father had
acknowledged that this pain is in part
driving the demand for surrogates.
Those bearing the pain of infertility as
well as those who have used surrogates
and are now beginning to question
what they have done are among
those who are hurting. They need the
Church to be a field hospital which
emphasizes God’s mercy on the way to
speaking the truth in love.
And they need a Church which focuses
on other ways faithful Christians
can be fruitful. Our spiritual father, St.
Joseph, certainly provides a primordial
example in his fatherhood of Jesus. (He
was a foundational inspiration — and
remains an ongoing help — for and
with our three adopted children.)
But let’s move even beyond adoption.
The Church must do a much better job
making space for childless people in
the Church, both single and married.
Far too often, one of the first questions
I hear from Catholics I meet is, “How
many children do you have?” Can you
imagine how such a question hits for
those bearing the pain of infertility?
Having biological children is a wonderful
gift to be given by God, and we
must continue to make cultural space
for these gifts, especially in a culture
that is often hostile to children. But let
us also make space for the wounded
people in the Church bearing the pain
of not having been given this gift —
The global surrogacy consumer network not only
exploits vulnerable women, but also treats children
as items for purchase.
and let us do so in ways which make it
clear we value the gifts they bring to the
table just as much.
Charlie Camosy is professor of medical
humanities at the Creighton University
School of Medicine. In addition, he
holds the Monsignor Curran Fellowship
in Moral Theology at St. Joseph Seminary
in New York.