Spanish actress Ana Obregón has sparked debate around surrogacy after using her dead son's sperm via surrogate to conceive her grandchild.
Obregón's son Aless Lequio García tragically passed away aged just 27 in May 2020 following a cancer diagnosis.
And in 2023, Obregón, 70, welcomed her late son's child via surrogate.
Fans were understandably quite perplexed when the little girl's birth was announced following the revelation that the girl was not Obregón's daughter but in fact belonged instead to her deceased son.
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Speaking to local news outlet Hola! in the months after the surrogate gave birth, Obregón opened up on the connection she'd formed with her grandchild.
"This baby girl is not my daughter, but my granddaughter," Obregón announced.
"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."
The on-screen star went on to reveal that she'd named the child 'Anita', and disclosed that her decision to have the baby girl was made 'the day my child went to heaven'.
Obregón told the publication that her son had always wanted to father a child, but was sadly unable to tick parenthood off his bucket list before his devastating passing five years ago.
She previously explained: "What people don’t know is that this was Aless’s last wish: to bring a child into the world."
According to Sky News, the heartbroken mother revealed that, prior to García starting cancer treatment, she was encouraged by medics to store some of his sperm and she did so, in a New York fertility facility.
Obregón added that a surrogate mother was used to conceive the child.
Such pregnancies are banned in the family's home nation - however, if conceived in other countries, these subsequent births can then be registered in Spain.
The case has gone on to spark a debate on the topic of surrogacy through the years as, in Spain, surrogacy is illegal and sperm samples can only be used to impregnate a widowed partner within 12 months of the donor’s death with their explicit permission.
"It seems questionable to me that the wishes of the deceased would have been for his sperm to be used to impregnate an egg in the body of a woman in another country," said philosophy professor Gonzalo Velasco in an interview with radio station Cadena Ser.
He continued: "It seems quite convoluted."
Just last month, Anita celebrated her second birthday - not long after Obregón celebrated her 70th.
Following the milestone, the family's bizarre case once again emerged on social media, with more of the debate taking place on Instagram.
Commenting on Obregón's behaviour, some admitted they saw no fault.
"I don’t think this is too weird. She didn’t use her egg. She used someone else’s," one confessed. Another added: "If I lost my adult child, I would consider fertilizing and adopting their child. Idk man. I love my kids. Can’t imagine losing any of them."
Others, however, seemingly couldn't get their heads around the prospect.
"Yeah this is unsettling, I don’t care what anyone says," one noted. Another continued: "It’s slightly creepy."
Topics: Celebrity, Parenting, Pregnancy, Women's Health, World News
Rhiannon Ingle