Spanish actress Ana Obregón made headlines in 2023 after choosing to honour her late son Aless Lequio’s final wish — to become a father — by using his preserved sperm to have a child via surrogate.
Aless died from cancer in 2022 at age 27. A year later, Ana welcomed a baby girl, Anita, in the U.S. via surrogacy. She later clarified Anita is not her daughter, but her granddaughter — Aless’ biological child.
“This girl is not my daughter, she is my granddaughter,” Ana told ¡Hola! in 2023. “She is Aless’ daughter, and I’ll tell her her dad was a hero.”
Now 70, Ana has spoken about the joy and challenges of raising Anita while grieving her son. “My house is full of toys,” she shared. “But picking her up is getting harder on my back.”
She’s also opened up about Aless’ diagnosis: “At 25, someone tells you that you have aggressive cancer — that’s not what you expect.”
Surrogacy is illegal in Spain, so Anita was born in the U.S., and Ana adopted her, becoming her legal guardian. The decision sparked public debate due to its unusual and emotional nature.
In a recent interview for Anita’s second birthday, Ana reflected: “I’ll never feel the happiness I had with Aless again. That pain never goes away… but Anita has brought life back to me.