Spanish TV star Ana Obregón sparks debate over decision to have surrogate baby in the US

Spanish television actress Ana Obregón has sparked a debate after revealing that she had a baby via surrogacy in the United States.

The 68-year-old, who has starred in a number of Spanish sitcoms, was pictured on the cover of ¡Hola! magazine this week holding her newborn daughter outside a hospital in Miami, Florida. The outlet reported that had welcomed the baby via surrogacy, which is prohibited in Spain.

Obregón responded to the magazine cover on 29 March, when she shared an Instagram post confirming the baby news. The actor, whose son Alejandro “Alex” Lequio García died from cancer in 2020 at age 27, captioned the post: “A light full of love came into my darkness. I will never be alone again. I AM ALIVE AGAIN.”

The baby announcement quickly turned into a debate, as social media users and Spanish government officials chimed in about the ethics of surrogacy. “Surrogacy is a practice that is not legal in Spain,” said Irene Montero, Spain’s Minister of Equality and a member of the left-wing Podemos party. “It is legally recognised in our country as a form of violence against women.”

According to The Guardian, Montero said that there was a “clear poverty bias” against women who become surrogate mothers, adding: “We can’t forget the reality of these women in precarious situations or who are at risk of, or in, poverty.”

Fellow left-wing politicians and members of Spain’s socialist party echoed the sentiment that surrogacy is a women’s rights issue and a form of exploiting women’s bodies. Presidency Minister Felix Bolaños said, “Women’s bodies should not be bought nor rented to satisfy anyone’s desires,” per theBBC.

Spain – along with EU countries such as France, Germany and Italy – has prohibited all forms of surrogacy, including “altruistic” surrogacy where there is no exchange of money or compensation. Although the practice is illegal in Spain, people who go abroad to have children via surrogacy are not penalised. In Spain, parentage after surrogacy is only recognised through legal adoption.

In countries like the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark, and Belgium, altruistic surrogacy is permitted but “commercial” surrogacy – in which a surrogate agrees to become pregnant and deliver a child in exchange for financial compensation – is banned. Meanwhile, surrogacy laws in the United States vary from state to state. In Florida, where Obregón opted to have a child via surrogate, gestational surrogacy is permitted by state law.

However, people who are in support of surrogacy have claimed the practice allows for same-sex couples, single parents, and those who are unable to become pregnant to have a family.

Earlier this year, Spain imposed tighter restrictions on surrogacy in a sweeping law that expanded abortion rights, as well as becoming the first country in Europe to offer paid menstrual leave. The law classified surrogacy as a “form of reproductive violence” against women. Last year, the country also passed legislation to ban advertisements for surrogacy.

Most recently, new reforms were proposed in the UK that would allow couples to become a surrogate child’s legal parents at birth. The surrogate would be able to withdraw her consent until six weeks after the baby’s birth, but she would then have to apply for a parental order to gain legal parental status. Under current restrictions, intended parents of a baby born via surrogate can be left waiting up to a year to be granted a parental order, which would recognise them as the baby’s legal parents.

The suggested reforms, which were published this week by the Law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission, have been hailed as “life-changing” amid rising demand to change the “outdated” surrogacy practice.