“I will never be alone again. I have come back to life”. A mother’s expression of happiness with a newborn daughter in her arms sparked a bioethical and political debate that is taking off in Spain. The mother in question is Ana Obregón, a Spanish actress and presenter. The controversy lies in her age, 68, and in how she chose to become a mother again: via surrogacy.
Obregón, who lost his only child until then in 2020, Álex, a cancer victim at the age of 27, resorted to a surrogate in Miami to become a mother again. On Tuesday night, Hola magazine anticipated the cover with the news — bombastic, as it turned out — accompanied by a photo of the actress leaving the clinic with a newborn in her arms.
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As explained in the report accompanying the photo, Ana Obregón traveled to the North American city a few days ago and spent four days alone waiting for the birth. There he completed his 68th birthday on the 18th. On the 20th, the girl was born, and two days later the Spanish actress left with the baby in her arms. Just like the presenter, the child’s name is Ana, the magazine adds.
However, the news of Ana Obregón’s happiness was not met with congratulations in Spain. And criticism even came from the highest level, directly from the Spanish government.
Pedro Sánchez’s director strongly criticized pregnancy through surrogacy. “It is a practice that is not legal in Spain and is legally recognized in our country as a form of violence against women,” said Equality Minister Irene Montero of the left-wing party Podemos.
Montero asked that “the reality of these precarious women at risk of poverty” should not be forgotten, referring to women getting pregnant for other people.
“The image looked terrible,” also criticized Pilar Alegría, Minister of Education and spokesman for the Socialist Party of the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez.
The right-wing opposition, in turn, was more open to discussion. The topic “deserves deep and serene debates because it touches on many moral, ethical and religious issues,” said People’s Party (PP) runner-up Cuca Gamarra, who supports surrogacy as long as it is not paid.
Surrogacy, as the practice is also known as paid or altruistic, has been illegal in Spain since 2006.
However, Spanish law allows the civil status of children born abroad in this way, provided that “a judicial decision of a competent court” of the country in question establishing parentage is presented.
Surrogacy was included under “expressions of violence against women” in an abortion law passed in February that also bans “advertising by intermediaries.”
Source: DN
