"Is it lawful
to have children at all costs
?"
"Is it ethical to force maternity at 68 years old?"
These are some of the questions that have been ringing in the ears of Spaniards since Hola magazine
published
a scoop on the cover of its latest issue: the photo of the Spanish actress and presenter Ana Obregón with a baby in her arms.
"Mother of a girl by
surrogacy
in Miami," says the headline that accompanies the photo of the woman, on the brink of 70 years.
Since then, there is almost no talk of anything other than the debate on
surrogacy
that also planted a flag, and antagonistic positions, between the government and the opposition.
an illegal practice
Surrogacy
is not legal in Spain.
Ana Obregon.
Photo: AFP
If it were to occur within Spanish territory, for the assisted reproduction law, the agreement that could exist between a pregnant woman and another who would record that newborn as her own is null: according to Spanish legislation, the legal mother
of
a baby
is always the woman who gives birth.
“It is a practice that is not legal in Spain”, was the first thing he said about what the cover of Hola Irene Montero, Minister of Equality, celebrates.
“The abortion law also specifies that it is illegal and recognizes it as
a form of violence against women
,” Montero stressed.
And he added: " Advertising is
also prohibited
."
Because many companies that are dedicated to surrogacy abroad
have offices in Spain
, where they promote their services.
Here, however, babies that were gestated by women who gave up their wombs can be registered in the registry if they have a judicial resolution from the country of origin.
This opinion must determine the parentage of the newborn and that the biological mother of that baby
gave her consent freely and without pressure.
"It is an exploitation of women and damage to the rights of minors," said the Minister of Education, Pilar Alegría.
“This is called surrogacy, not surrogacy,” she stressed.
According to official data, in 2022, 162 babies
were registered in Spain
who were born from bellies that are not those of the women they will call “mom”.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has recorded 3,400 boys and girls born by surrogacy who were registered, between 2010 and July 2022, in Spanish consulates in
12 countries.
Tighten the
legislation
To curb this situation, the spokesman for the PSOE -the majority party in the government coalition- in Congress, Patxi López, proposed
toughening the legislation
.
So that Spaniards cannot appeal to surrogacy in other countries and then register those babies in the Spanish civil registry.
"We must prevent anyone from wanting to go abroad to find ways to rent a woman to have their children and then, when they arrive in Spain, they can register them normally," he said.
We have to strengthen our own legislation to prevent this.”
"The body of women is neither rented nor can be bought," emphasized the PSOE spokesman.
"The body of women is neither rented nor can be bought"
“And the cases that we are seeing have been done with money.
Some claim the freedom of women to be able to decide to give up their bodies.
But it's not true," López added.
The position of the PP
From Portugal, where he is on tour, the president of the Popular Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, clarified this Thursday that
"there is no pronouncement from the Popular Party
other than to say that it is a debate that is on the table."
“The reasonable thing to do is to open a debate.
Not now, of course, because it is not the moment of the Spanish political situation but, I insist, in the face of a controversial social fact, what the political parties must do is debate - said
Núñez
Feijóo -.
But it is not the main problem we have in Spain at the moment”.
The position of Citizens
The only political party that looks favorably on surrogacy, which is allowed in some US states, Ukraine and Canada, is Ciudadanos
.
The Obregón case sensitizes Spanish society, which is very attached to the ups and downs of the actress's private life.
Photo: Reuters
"A media case cannot cover up the reality of thousands of families who
have to resort to this assisted reproduction technique
to fulfill a love project ," said Inés Arrimadas, spokesperson for the Citizens' Congress, the liberal party that had already raised in its 2015 electoral program regulates surrogacy.
Taking advantage of the fact that the subject became a
trendy topic
, this Thursday Ciudadanos will register its bill again, for the third time, in the Congress of Deputies.
the doctors speak
Coincidentally, this Thursday, doctors are also going to register their Code of Medical Ethics in Congress, which refers to the issue that burns on the screens of television programs.
" Altruistic surrogate
pregnancy
is not contrary to Medical Deontology as long as the dignity of the woman and the best interests of the child are preserved, with timely regulation and control by the National Commission for Assisted Human Reproduction," the doctors point out.
Ana Obregón and her son, now deceased, Alex Lequio.
Photo: @ana_obregon_oficial
“Substitution gestation
with financial compensation
is contrary to Medical Deontology.
The commercialization of the woman's body violates her dignity ”, the document underlines.
The Obregón case sensitizes Spanish society, which is very
attached to the ups and downs of the actress's private life
.
In 2020, the death of her until then only son, Alex Lequio, 27 years old and suffering from cancer, shocked the whole world.
Three years later and after having been photographed by the Spanish press at the exit of a Miami clinic, Ana Obregón told what she feels on her social networks: "A light full of love came to my darkness," she said on her Instagram account. -.
I will never be alone again.
I have lived again."
Madrid. Correspondent
ap
look too
Spain ratified the nullity of womb surrogacy: how is it in Argentina
Russian pregnant women: from the letter to the stork to the wars for motherhood
