"This little girl is not my daughter, but my granddaughter. She is Aless's daughter and when she grows up I will explain to her that her father was a hero, so she knows who he is." According to Ana Obregón, the fertilized embryo comes from the genetic material of her deceased son and an anonymous donor. The latest revelations of the actress promote the social debate on surrogacy and force the seams of a regulatory structure that is not designed to face situations of such great complexity, starting with the fact that in Spain gestation is not allowed by substitution Obregón is Ana Sandra's mother - that's the name of the baby - according to Florida legislation, and at the same time she is her grandmother, biologically and emotionally. From an administrative and legal point of view, in Spain the case enters a labyrinth.
The Law on Assisted Human Reproduction Techniques declares surrogacy contracts void. The interpretations have made an exception with children born in another country that declares the baby's parentage through a court ruling, as happens in the state of Florida. For these cases, a judgment of the Supreme Court of March 31, 2022 establishes a possible route for administrative regularization in Spain, which is adoption, not filiation (paternity or maternity). But adoption is an unviable alternative for Obregón: it would require a certificate of suitability to exercise parental authority, which could be denied for many reasons. The most elementary is that, according to article 175 of the Civil Code, the age difference between adopter and adopted cannot be greater than 45 years, and the actress is well over 68.
But in this labyrinth, when one door closes, another one opens. Article 176.2 of the Civil Code establishes as an exception for age obstacles that the girl "has been in custody for more than a year for the purpose of adoption or has been under the guardianship of the adopter for the same period". In other words, Obregón should not encounter many problems in adopting and registering Ana Sandra in the Civil Registry within one year, as long as he provides the court ruling handed down in the country of origin that certifies both the girl's parentage and the fulfillment of the rights of the pregnant woman.
With this procedure, Obregón would not appear administratively as a grandmother as she wants, but as an adoptive mother, a status that cannot be changed except through other legal tricks. It would be about obtaining the paternity of Álex Lequio (son of Ana, who died three years ago) because he was the one who provided the genetic material for the surrogate pregnancy. In this case, a guardian (preferably designated in a notarial document by the deceased parent) should take care of the orphan Ana Sandra. There is no doubt that the role of tutor, with the obligatory approval of a judge, would fall to Ana Obregón.
