Celebrity surrogate birth sparks debate on law in Spain

The decision of well-known Spanish actress and presenter Ana Obregón to become a mother aged 68 through a surrogate birth in Miami was announced on the front page of Hola magazine on Wednesday

SUR

Malaga

Friday, 31 March 2023 | Updated 01/04/2023 08:22h.

A fierce debate on the morality of surrogate motherhood has been ignited across Spain in recent days.

The decision of well-known Spanish actress and presenter Ana Obregón to become a mother aged 68 through a surrogate birth in Miami was announced on the front page of Hola magazine on Wednesday.

Unlike in some other countries, such as the UK, Portugal or Greece, it is illegal for women to carry a child for somebody else in Spain and the rights and wrongs of Obregón's move have quickly become centre of attention across television gossip shows and among politicians.

The government stated that it considers surrogacy "violence against women". However Spanish law is vague in one area. It allows babies born to Spaniards through surrogate mothers elsewhere to be brought back and registered as Spanish residents, albeit with more bureaucratic hurdles than normal. Some 20 babies are adopted this way in Malaga province alone each year.

Ministers now say they are studying how to close this loophole in the surrogacy law.

From the perspective of the celebrity who started the controversy and her family, there has been joy but bemusement at the attention.

Obregón lost her only son to cancer in 2020. With the birth of her baby daughter, she said on social media, "A light full of love has arrived to fill my darkness. I have come alive again."

Her sister, Celia, said, "with the problems in Spain, it is gobsmacking that this is now a matter of national importance."

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