India, July 18 -- A senior lawmaker from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU) resigned on Saturday after a controversy erupted over his having a baby born through a surrogate mother.

Jens Spahn, the chairman of the CDU's faction in the German parliament, became a father through a surrogate mother in the United States. The practice of surrogacy is banned in Germany.

In a letter written to party colleagues, Spahn said that his personal happiness of starting a family with his husband is "incompatible" with his political office.

"In recent days, I have come to realise that my personal happiness in starting a family with my husband and becoming a father is incompatible with my political office," Jens Sp...