Spanish Actor Ana Obregón Welcomes Her Late Son’s Baby Via Surrogate
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A Spanish film and television actor became the subject of global scrutiny this week after honoring her late son in an unusual, if heartfelt, way.
Ana Obregón adopted a baby girl, Ana Sandra Lequio Obregón, last month via a surrogate. The child arrived March 20 at Miami’s Memorial Regional Hospital, according to Reuters.
In translated excerpts of an interview published Wednesday in Spain’s Hola magazine, Obregón revealed that the newborn is actually her granddaughter and the biological daughter of her son, Aless Lequio, who died in May 2020 at age 27.
“This baby girl is not my daughter, but my granddaughter,” Obregón, 68, told the magazine. “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.”
She said her son froze his sperm shortly after being diagnosed with cancer, as chemotherapy can affect fertility.
“What people don’t know is that this was Aless’ last wish: to bring a child into the world,” Ana Obregón said.
After sharing that the process of conceiving the baby began “the day my child went to heaven,” she said, “What people don’t know is that this was Aless’ last wish: to bring a child into the world.”
Though the bulk of Obregón’s acting career has been in Spain, she’s made a handful of guest appearances in American television series, including “The A-Team” and “Who’s the Boss?” She played Bo Derek’s best friend in the big-screen romantic drama “Bolero,” released in 1984.
Her announcement has sparked controversy among Spaniards, though many don’t seem particularly vexed by the unusual family arrangement. Instead, much of the criticism stems from the actor being permitted to travel abroad for a surrogate pregnancy. All forms of surrogacy are banned in Spain along with a number of other European countries, including France, Germany and Italy.
“Women’s bodies should neither be bought nor rented to satisfy anyone’s desires,” Spain’s Minister for the Presidency Felix Bolaños told Reuters.
Despite the controversy, Obregón has maintained that she’s not opposed to using surrogates to have more grandchildren.
“My son wanted five kids,” she explained. “Maybe one day we will have a boy.”