Jens Spahn has resigned as parliamentary group leader of Germany's Christian Democrats after he and his husband became parents through surrogacy.
The senior CDU politician and ally of Chancellor Friedrich Merz had faced criticism because surrogacy is banned in Germany and his party has opposed the practice. Mr Spahn had also criticised the idea in the past.
Mr Spahn and his husband, Daniel Funke, used a surrogate mother in the United States. He announced the birth of their child, Georg, on Wednesday in an interview with the German newspaper Bild.
Under Germany's 1990 Embryo Protection Act, surrogacy is punishable by up to three years' imprisonment or a fine. The Guardian reported that many German couples therefore pursue surrogacy abroad.
The row also drew attention to Mr Spahn's record as health minister. In 2020, he refused to relax Germany's policy on surrogacy. In February, when the surrogate mother was around four months pregnant, the CDU voted at a party conference to maintain the ban.
Mr Spahn, 46, initially defended himself in media interviews, saying he had wrestled with the issue for a long time before the couple proceeded. The announcement brought criticism from inside and outside the CDU, with opponents accusing him of hypocrisy.