Small pink shoes on a white blanket
Ana Obregón—a 68-year-old Spanish actress and socialite—has ignited controversy after revealing that her newborn baby, delivered through surrogacy, was fathered by her late son.
During a recent sit-down with ¡Hola! magazine, Obregón revealed that the child—born in Miami less than three weeks ago— is technically her granddaughter.
Specifically, the baby was fathered by the actress’s son, Alessandro “Aless” Lequio Jr., who died of cancer back in 2020 at only 27 years old.
“The first thing you need to know is that this girl is not my daughter, but my granddaughter. She is Aless’s 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 has to be of him.”
The actress notes that her son said it was his “last will” to bring life into the world, so they went about preserving some sperm samples before he began chemotherapy.
While she initially didn’t disclose this detail, she’s now openly embraced it. In fact, beneath an Instagram post of her and the baby gracing the cover of ¡Hola!, she penned a sweet message to Aless.
“I swore I would save you from cancer, and I failed you. I promised you I’d bring your daughter into the world, and here she is in my arms.”
She added, “You are the love of my life in heaven, and your daughter is the love of my life on earth.”
In light of this revelation, some controversy has ignited in the star’s home country, as surrogacy is illegal in Spain. In fact, The Guardian reports that some high-profile politicians even refer to surrogacy as “womb renting.”
However, Obregón brushed off the matter as being “absurd” and noted that Spain is stuck “in the last century.”
She also proclaimed that, as the baby was born in America and is legally her daughter, she won’t run into any problems back home.
“Everything is legal. The baby girl was born in America and will have an American passport and dual nationality. Legally, she is my daughter, and that’s how she appears in her passport. I will register her at the Spanish Consulate, and then I can bring her home.”
On top of the backlash surrounding surrogacy in general, Obregón also faces criticism for how she went about the process.
According to BBC News, Gonzalo Velasco—a social philosophy commentator—told radio station Cadena SER that the situation’s an example of a mother “going too far.”
“Ana Obregón has taken it upon herself to interpret her dead son’s wishes and that is going too far. No child is ever the property of his parents, and neither is a dead child. No mother or father has the power to interpret the wishes of their child.”
What are your thoughts on the overall situation?
