The Spanish Socialist party which is in power in Madrid has said that it will study stiffer legislation covering surrogate pregnancies following the announcement that a 68-year-old Spanish television celebrity used a surrogate mother in Miami to have a baby.
Actress and presenter Ana Obregón grabbed the attention of the Spanish media and the country’s political parties on Wednesday when the socialite magazine ¡Hola! published a front-page photograph of her with a baby in arms, announcing she was the mother of a baby girl born by a surrogate mother.
Surrogate pregnancies are banned in Spain, although children from such pregnancies can be registered.
The news immediately triggered criticism from the leftist coalition government headed by the Socialists. Equality Minister Irene Montero of the Unidas Podemos coalition partner said surrogate pregnancies were “a form of violence against women” while finance minister María Jesús Montero described the practice as “exploitation of a woman’s body”.