Ana Obregón's son died in 2020. Three years later, she welcomed a child using his sperm.

Spanish actor Ana Obregón welcomed her son's child three years after his passing.

The TV presenter and socialite, 68, announced the birth in a cover story for Hola! magazine in June 2023, detailing how she used his sperm samples to conceive the child via surrogate.

The baby girl, named Ana Sandra and nicknamed Anita, is Obregón's legal daughter but biological granddaughter.

Obregón's son, Aless Lequio, passed away from cancer in May 2020, aged 27, after a two-year battle with the disease.

Lequio was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a rare type of cancer affecting the bones or the tissue around the bones.

Before he started chemotherapy, he told his mother about his desire to have a child. Doctors encouraged Lequio to preserve samples of his sperm.

"Aless was doing very poorly and told us, if anything should happen, he wanted us to know he wanted to leave a descendent in this world. Even if he was no longer here," Obregón told ¡Hola!.

"From that moment, the only thing that has allowed me to continue to live each day, each second, is completing his mission to bring Aless' daughter to the world."

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Obregón noted that the journey to conceive the child began not long after her son passed. 

Surrogacy is illegal in Spain, so she found a surrogate in the United States and used her son’s sperm and donor eggs to help her conceive the child legally.

The actress noted the process took three years because of legalities. It was a "long road, but it's what has kept me alive", she said.

"It's just that if it weren't for this, I wouldn't be here anymore."

Though Lequio had been in a relationship at the time of his illness, Obregón didn't disclose the identity of her granddaughter's biological mother, only that a donor and surrogate were used.

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Obregón is one of Spain’s biggest celebrities and is renowned for her roles in Spanish sitcoms and comedies. 

Initial reports about the baby grabbed the attention of the Spanish media and the country’s political parties, sparking criticism.

Many leading politicians and Spanish outlets refer to surrogacy as "womb renting". Equality Minister Irene Montero called surrogate pregnancies, "a form of violence against women".

But the actor sees the outrage over the baby's birth as "absurd", arguing that surrogacy is legal in much of the world beyond Spain.

The child was born on March 20, 2023, in Miami and will have a US passport. She will be registered at the Spanish consulate before flying home to Spain.

The actor has also said she refuses to rule out providing her granddaughter with a brother or sister.

"My 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," Obregón wrote on Instagram.

"When I hug her, it's an indescribable feeling because it's as if I were hugging you again. I swear that I will take care of her with the infinite love that I have to give, and from heaven, you will help me.

"You are the love of my life in heaven and your daughter is the love of my life on earth. I love you to death, Mum."

Feature image: Instagram/@ana_obregon_oficial

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