Pope Francis is 'the very last person' who should be lecturing people on child welfare or the welfare of women, according to the Adoption Rights Alliance.
The head of the Catholic Church on Monday called for a global ban on the "despicable" practice of surrogacy.
During a speech listing what he believed were threats to peace and human dignity - including the war in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas conflict - he said surrogate motherhood was a "grave violation" of the dignity of the woman and the child.
He appealed to the international community "to prohibit this practice universally" and said the life of the unborn child must be protected and not "suppressed or turned into an object of trafficking".
Responding to the speech, Adoption Rights Alliance Co-Founder Susan Lohan said the Pope was not in any position to lecture people on matters of welfare.
"They were one of the key architects of the forced adoption operations here in Ireland, which oversaw the forced separation of mothers and their children," she said.
Fertility law and surrogacy specialist Natalie Sutherland told Newstalk Breakfast she views surrogacy as a gift.
"So many people require surrogacy to create their families that they can't create them in any other way," she said.
"I feel that the women who carry those babies often do it because they want to, that they see it as a gift they can give another family.
"To give it a blanket 'deplorable, despicable' term, and also talk about it at the same time as you're talking about actual wars, I just think is offensive and ill-thought out.
"His comments are worrying [and] I think it's going to galvanise the far-right in Europe against surrogacy and it's going to impact reproductive rights and certainly LGBT rights as well.
"The research that we know has been carried out says children who were born through surrogacy do just as well, if not better in their lives, than children who are created in the usual heterosexual way."
'Commercial surrogacy'
Adoption Rights Alliance Co-Founder Susan Lohan told the show she has concerns around commercial surrogacy.
"I think what Natalie is referring to is altruistic surrogacy," she said.
"The big concern is actually commercial surrogacy, and that's where exploitation occurs, where the parties involved are invariably countries where there is very little official oversight on surrogacy arrangements.
"I think feminists are very concerned about the ultimate exploitation of vulnerable women.
"I will, however, agree with Natalie on one thing: I think Pope Francis and the Catholic Church is the very last person who should be lecturing the world on matters of child welfare or the welfare of women.
"They were one of the key architects of the forced adoption operations here in Ireland, which oversaw the forced separation of mothers and their children."
'I don't think that's going to happen'
Ms Sutherland said she has no issue with commercial surrogacy as long as it is regulated.
"I have no problem with surrogates getting paid - but what you need is a regulated system rather than it being underground," she said.
"Pope Francis is calling for a global ban on surrogacy, I don't think that's ever going to happen.
"[The] same as when you ban abortion, it doesn't stop abortions, it just drives it underground," she added.
The Pope, who last month announced that Catholic priests can bless same-sex couples, has previously voiced the Catholic Church's opposition to what he has called "uterus for rent".
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Additional reporting: IRN
