Recently, the 68-year-old Spanish celebrity spurred a debate in Spain after her picture carrying her surrogate-born baby came to light. Ana Obregón revealed contracting with a gestational surrogate in Miami to have a baby, but later announced in a magazine interview that the baby was the daughter of her son who died of cancer in 2020. Surrogacy in Spain is not legal.
Obregón said that the doctors had encouraged her son, Aless Lequio García, to preserve samples of sperm before he began treatment and that he expressed a desire just before dying to have a child. The samples, she said, were stored in New York.
Initial reports about the baby grabbed the attention of the Spanish media and the country’s political parties, sparking criticism which most of which are inaccurate views of surrogacy which do not apply to the United States with its surrogacy friendly laws and agency policies which protect surrogates.
Debunking Surrogacy Misconceptions
Equality minister Irene Montero called the practice “a form of violence against women.”
False. Surrogates choose to be surrogates after a long process of psychological and medical screening and counseling. Surrogates have their own lawyer to ensure the surrogate understands and can negotiate their surrogacy arrangement.
Montero pointed out a “clear poverty bias” concerning women who agree to become surrogates due to financial needs, Reuters reported.
False. Surrogates in the United States should not be on any form of state welfare and should be financially self-sufficient without surrogacy. Surrogates declare in the contracts that they are not under economic duress.
Socialist treasury minister María Jesús Montero described surrogacy as the “exploitation of a woman’s body.”
False. Surrogacy is not exploitation of a woman's body. Thousands of American women successfully assisted others have families and it is not self-exploitation. Surrogates keep their careers, make important healthcare decisions affecting their health, and maintain their home and family life during the process.
Conclusion
It is important to seek out reliable sources of information and to fact-check any claims or information about surrogacy before accepting them as true. While surrogacy in third-world countries may not be free from exploitation, it is a far cry from surrogacy in the United States. Approaching surrogacy with empathy and understanding is also important as it is a personal decision that can be emotionally challenging for all parties involved.
This article is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon without additional research or consulting an attorney. This article is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship with the reader.