A Spanish actress’s desire to have another baby went on a controversial turn as she used her dead son’s sperm to conceive a child through surrogacy. Her action causes uproar with questions if it's moral and legal.
The 68-year-old actress Ana Obregón, best known for her part in the Spanish television series "A las once en casa," lost her son Alejandro Alfonso Lequio, also known as "Aless," to cancer in 2020. Surprisingly, the mother made the decision to become pregnant on the day her son passed away, claiming that having a child was his "last wish" before passing away.
Obregon added that her son made this wish to her and his father a week before his death. She emphasized that she wants to “fulfill the mission of bringing Aless’ daughter into the world.”
Surrogacy Baby Was Born
The baby, Ana Sandra Lequio Obregón, was born on March 20 in Miami, Florida, according to an interview in Hola. It was the wish of her son to call his first daughter “Ana” like his mom. The TV personality announced that the child would be registered at the Spanish consulate in Miami before returning to Spain after being born through a surrogate in the United States.
“This baby girl is not my daughter, but my granddaughter. She is Aless’ daughter and when she grows up I will tell her that her father was a hero so that she knows who she is and how proud she should be of him,” Obregón, told Today.
The star said that when she learned that the baby was conceived last August, she was so happy. When she found out that it’s a girl last December, she was excited to be surrounded with diapers, pink bows and clothes.
Obregón claimed to have documentation demonstrating her status as the child's legitimate mother in the United States, as CNN reported earlier this month. According to the source, it is permissible in Spain to adopt a child from another country, thus it is doubtful that the star would face any legal issues.
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Spain’s Surrogacy Law
In Spain, surrogacy is forbidden. According to Jennifer Lahl, president of the Center of Bioethics and Culture Network, the actress appears to have exploited a gap in the law as it is legal to fly abroad and hire a surrogate in another nation. Hence, the actress employed a Florida-based surrogate.
A blog post by Lahl, who produced and directed the 2010 documentary "Eggsploitation," regarding the star's announcement headlined "The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous,” speculated that given Obregón's advanced age, an anonymous egg donor was probably employed. Obregón's mother said that her son had frozen his sperm before beginning chemotherapy treatments.
The documentary filmmaker commented that he finds it odd that Spain allows payment for eggs but not for surrogacy. He added that Spain needs to “address their imperfect law to protect women and children."
Obergon released a book this April about this journey to give his son a child. According to Euro ES Euro, the book comprises 313 pages wherein 72 pages was written by Aless during the days when he was already sick. The rest is a first person account of Ana starting from the day she gave birth to Aless.
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