Spain’s leftist government on Wednesday slammed the practice of surrogacy after a 68-year-old Spanish actor had a baby girl through surrogacy in the United States.
Celebrity magazine Hola! published what it said was an “exclusive” photo of Ana Obregon leaving a Miami hospital cradling a baby.
The magazine said Obregon had become a “mother of a baby girl born through surrogate pregnancy.”
The actor — who has starred in several top-rated sitcoms — later confirmed the report in an Instagram post, writing “a light full of love came into my darkness”.
“I will never be alone again. I AM ALIVE AGAIN,” added Obregon, whose son died of cancer in 2020 at the age of 27.
Like several other European union nations, Spain bans all forms of surrogacy and Obregon’s news sparked strong criticism from top government officials.
Equality Minister Irene Montero called surrogacy “a form of violence against women”, before adding that women who bear a child for someone else are often poor and need the money.
“Let’s not forget the reality of these women who live in precarity, in situations of poverty,” she said.
Education Minister Pilar Alegria called the image of Obregon leaving the hospital “Dantesque”.
“This is not surrogacy, this is renting a womb which, as we know, is an illegal practice in Spain,” she added.
Under surrogacy, a woman agrees to become pregnant and deliver a child on behalf of someone else.
It is usually done in exchange for money, although it can also be carried out to help infertile or LGBTQ couples to have a child.
While surrogacy for either reason is illegal in Spain, someone who undergoes surrogacy abroad can register as the parents of the child via adoption when they return.