Spanish TV star Ana Obregón reveals surrogate baby was fathered by her dead son
By Lottie Kilraine, Multimedia Producer
A TV actress, who sparked a fierce debate in Spain after it was revealed she had welcomed a child via surrogacy, has revealed that the baby is fathered by her dead son.
Ana Obregón, who announced last week that she had paid a surrogate in the US, has revealed that the newborn is actually her granddaughter.
Her son Aless Lequio García, the baby's father, died of cancer in 2020, at the age of 27.
The biological mother who carried the baby is reported to be a woman of Cuban origin living in Florida.
The news is said to have stunned Spain, prompting anger from ministers in the left-wing government and sparking a national debate.
Surrogate pregnancies are banned in Spain, although children from such pregnancies in other countries can be registered.
Ms Obregón told ¡Hola! magazine that doctors had encouraged her son to preserve samples of his sperm before he began treatment for cancer, and the samples were stored in New York.
She added that her son had expressed a desire to have a child in the weeks before his death.
¡Hola! revealed that the baby was born last month, on March 20, and was conceived in June 2022 - when Ms Obregón's son would have turned 30.
“This girl is not my daughter, but rather my granddaughter,” she told the magazine.
“It was Aless’s last wish to bring a child into the world.”
Ms Obregón is one of Spain’s biggest celebrities and has appeared on many TV shows, including an episode of The A-Team.
The 68-year-old shared a photograph on Instagram of her granddaughter, who has been named Sandra Ana, and spoke of her late son in the caption.
Translated into English, the post read: "I swore that I would save you from cancer and I failed you.
"I promised you that I would bring your daughter into the world and here I have her in my arms."
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Initial reports about the birth of the baby in the Spanish media sparked criticism from the country's leftist coalition government.
Equality Minister Irene Montero, of the United We Can coalition, described surrogate pregnancies as “a form of violence against women.”
The coalition’s Socialist party said legislation should be tweaked to prevent Spanish citizens from using surrogates in other countries.
But Defence Minister Margarita Robles refused to criticise the actress and said that while the law was clear in Spain, personal decisions should be respected.
The main opposition conservative Popular Party has said it is open to debate legalising such pregnancies if there’s no payment involved.