Bishop Robert Barron, on behalf of the U.S. bishops, has strongly criticized the practice of surrogacy, aligning with Pope Francis's recent condemnation of it as a "grave injustice" leading to the "commercialization of women and children." The head of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, and chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family, and Youth, issued his statement on January 10, echoing Pope's call for a global ban on surrogacy.

Barron emphasized that, despite the well-intentioned desire to form families through surrogacy, it inherently causes serious harm to the child, discarded embryos, the birth mother treated as a commodity, and the loving union of spouses. He condemned surrogacy as the commodification and instrumentalization of a woman's body, reducing her to a mere "carrier" rather than recognizing her as a human being. He further expressed concern about the child being treated as an object for buying and selling, akin to human trafficking.

Surrogacy, legal in most U.S. states, has become a lucrative industry, estimated to be worth over $14 billion in 2022. Barron, aligning with Pope's stance, asserted that a child is a gift and should never be the subject of a commercial contract. He acknowledged the challenges some couples face in conceiving but stressed that the Church encourages openness to life while also having a responsibility to support couples struggling with infertility.

The bishop highlighted the commercialization of women and children through surrogacy, emphasizing the misconception that there is a right to have a child. He argued that this perspective overlooks the genuine right of the child to be conceived through the love of their parents, reducing the child to an object for fulfilling desires rather than a cherished person. Barron concluded by urging a rejection of such thinking and a commitment to respecting human life, particularly starting with the unborn child.