A Catholic schoolteacher has been removed from the classroom after she told her boss she is carrying a baby as a surrogate.

Jadira Bonilla, 35, said school administrators accused her of violating her employment agreement with St. Mary School in Vineland, New Jersey.

Since September 12, she has not been allowed back to school to teach her kindergarteners.

Bonilla argued that since she has not done anything illegal, she is being unjustly punished by her employer for being pregnant.

'I’m not committing a crime and I’m being punished as if I was, it’s hurtful,' Bonilla told NJ.com. 'What I'm doing is to help a family out.'

In an interview with CBS News, Bonilla said she already missed her students, adding that since it's now fall, she would have had 'so many fun activities' to do with them.

Bonilla, who is 25 weeks' pregnant, was pulled into the office on September 12 and told by the diocese 'that I was possibly in violation of my contract, so I would be placed on administrative leave until further notice while they investigate'.

'So far, I haven't heard anything back yet,' she added.

Bonilla said her contract doesn't say anything about surrogacy and went ahead and did it because she had no problems when she was a surrogate four years ago while teaching at another Catholic school in Philadelphia. 

In a statement to the Daily Mail, St. Mary School Principal Steven Hogan called Bonilla a 'valued teacher' but implied she was going against the church.

'We certainly understand Mrs. Bonilla’s concern. It has been our hope to meet with her to help her fully understand the Catholic Church’s teaching on surrogacy, but that has not happened as of yet,' Hogan said.

'Mrs. Bonilla is a valued teacher and one we hope will one day again teach in our school with the full knowledge of our faith which guides our educational principles,' he concluded.

Bonilla claimed she told Hogan about her surrogacy plans last year, before she got pregnant, and was surprised by his 'judgmental response'.

She also said she asked multiple times for the school to provide written documentation proving why she is be in violation of her employment contract. She claimed the school never did this.

It's not clear where she stands legally, since the New Jersey Supreme Court said in 2023 that religious entities are not bound by state discrimination laws.

The ruling came about from a lawsuit filed by a Catholic school art teacher who was fired when the administrators found out that she had premarital sex and was pregnant. The court's decision upheld her firing. 

The Catholic Church considers surrogacy unethical since the pregnancy occurs outside the confines of marriage and undermines the dignity and right of a child to be conceived 'by his own parents'.

The late Pope Francis called surrogacy 'despicable' and wanted a universal ban on the practice.

Bonilla said she's received an outpouring of support from the parents of the children she teaches, who say they want her back in the classroom.

One message from a parent reportedly said: 'If they're so uncomfortable having you work at the school as a surrogate, then they should be uncomfortable about taking tuition from anyone who has used a surrogate or had IVF, like myself.'

Bonilla said she was first inspired to become a surrogate at age 18, when her cousin needed medical procedures that would prevent her from being able to have children.

'I said, "Listen, if you ever wanted to have kids, I will absolutely carry them for you,"' Bonilla recalled.

Her cousin ultimately didn't have kids, but after Bonilla had children of her own with her husband, she decided to get connected with a surrogacy agency.

'We found an amazing couple, and this is their second baby that I’m having for them,' she said.