The debate on surrogacy in Spain: the story behind Ana Obregón's baby

Ana Obregón, the 68-year-old Spanish actress and presenter who, by allowing herself to be photographed in Miami with a baby born by surrogacy in her arms, fueled the political debate in Spain on surrogacy, added an explosive detail this Wednesday: "This girl is

my daughter, but my granddaughter," Obregón confessed to Hola magazine.

In an exclusive interview that he gave to the weekly, he clarified that the baby is the daughter of

, his only son, who died three years ago, at 27, of cancer.

"This

, to bring a child of his into the world," Obregón said while pampering Ana Sandra, who was born on March 20.

"And so he communicated it orally to her father and me a week before he died," he added.

Ana Obregon and Alex Lequio.

Photo: @ana_obregon_oficial

In the report, the actress clarified that her son, before undergoing the cancer treatments he faced,

That's not new: Cancer therapies can affect fertility, so some men and women fighting the disease preserve the possibility of future parents by cryopreserving their own

“When my son was diagnosed with cancer and was going to start chemotherapy, the doctors recommended that he save samples of his sperm, in case the drugs affected him in the future, to make sure he could have children,” Obregón said.

That is to say that, in his case, the baby that developed and grew in a surrogate womb is, genetically, the

deceased son and

The sadness of the relatives of Älex Lequio, after his death in 2020.

An

illegal

In Spain, surrogacy

For this reason, last week, when the cover title of Hola pointed to Obregón as

, the issue jumped into the political arena and no party wanted to be left out of the debate.

"The abortion law specifies that it is illegal and recognizes (surrogacy) as a form of violence against women," stressed the Minister of Equality, Irene Montero.

"In addition ,

," he added, referring to companies that are dedicated to surrogacy abroad but have offices in Spain, where they promote their services.

Hello! magazine cover

showing actress and businesswoman Ana Obregón, 68.

Photo: Hello via EFE

"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,” insisted Alegría.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has recorded

who were registered, between 2010 and July 2022, in Spanish consulates in 12 countries.

To prevent this from continuing to happen, the spokesperson for the PSOE -the majority party in the government coalition- in Congress, Patxi López, proposed toughening the legislation in this regard: 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 as normal," López 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.

In Spain, only Ciudadanos, the liberal party that could disappear in the next national elections, considers that surrogacy, a practice that is allowed in some US states, Ukraine and Canada, should be legal for Spaniards.

“A media case cannot cover up the reality of thousands of families who have to resort to this assisted reproduction technique to complete a love project,” said Inés Arrimadas, spokesperson for the Citizens' Congress.

Her party had already proposed regulating surrogacy in the 2015 electoral program.

Taking advantage of the fact that the issue is on everyone's lips, last Thursday Ciudadanos returned to register its bill, for the third time, in the Congress of Deputies.

The debate continues: the girl is the legal daughter of Obregón

Spanish politics, this time, was not left out of its opinion on this twist in the Obregón case, an issue that promises to be the main

Because although she is biologically her granddaughter, Ana Obregón registered the newborn Ana Sandra Lequio Obregón

The Defense Minister, Margarita Robles,

that the fact of carrying a baby in a womb different from that of the woman who will register that newborn as her own represents in Spain.

For Spanish legislation,

Ana Obregon.

Photo: Reuters

However, Robles empathized with Ana Obregón's personal situation.

"It is a topic that produces some curiosity but we should also all get used to respecting personal reasons, why a person makes a decision," said the minister on Wednesday.

I believe that here, in Spain, we all always become judges and give our opinion on what others do, many times without having concrete data, ”she said.

From the Secretary of State for Equality, its manager, Angela Rodríguez -from Podemos-, did not miss the opportunity to

, her partners in Moncloa.

According to the official, when the abortion law was reformed, Podemos proposed to the PSOE that surrogacy be one of the crimes that

, "but the PSOE did not want to carry out this measure," she assured.

Last week, the president of the Popular Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, was inclined to

.

But he opined: "You can not commodify in any case any type of activity related to surrogacy."

Who is the biological mother of the baby?

Meanwhile, the Spanish press, especially the one that specializes in the private life of celebrities, goes further in Obregón's story and assures that the woman who gave birth to Ana Sandra is Cuban and that she has two biological

.

Ana Obregón, for her part, celebrates her happiness and says that the debate surrounding the birth of her granddaughter

The heart press echoes the surrogacy process.

Photo: EFE

“This assisted reproduction technique has been done for many years and is legal in many countries around the world.

Many couples who cannot have children or homosexual couples or for whatever reasons use this technique.

But what scandal is this, now?

"In Spain, my goodness, we are in the last century," she said.

Five sons?

“I died on May 13, 2020 (when he lost his son) and I was born again on March 20, 2023 (when his granddaughter was born), just like that,” Obregón said.

"It has been very difficult.

The pregnancy did not occur on the first attempt, far from it;

and every time I didn't go out I was terribly upset and started over.

, a long road, but it's what has kept me alive.

It is that if it were not for this, I would no longer be here, ”she assured.

And he left a door open:

he slipped.

Those who know her do not rule out that she tries to give Ana Sandra a little brother.

Madrid.

Correspondent

ap​

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