A controversial issue has been a hot topic in Spain the last few weeks: anger over TV star Ana Obregón’s surrogate baby in US. Her son and only child died of cancer in 2020 at the age of 27, and she had since spoken of her struggles to move on with her life. Spain has banned all forms of surrogacy, but parents can adopt the child when they return to the country. Obregón – who also lost both her parents after the death of her son – was pictured on the cover of ¡Hola! magazine earlier this week outside a Miami hospital, cradling a newborn baby.
I proposed to my Year 12s who are taking Spanish for A Level to have a debate about surrogacy, in the target language, as they were really surprised with the news and they also need to be knowledgeable about the theme of the family in Spain and the different types as a part of the subject content.
They spoke about the law in Spain and many other countries and also their position on this. Cristina and Pauline were against while Martina and Daniela were in favour. Both groups were amazing at debating and discussing all the controversies around this topic and the moral. We had the pleasure of having Catarina Leandro, from Year 13, as the external judge who decided that Cristina and Pauline should win.
I am over the moon with how this debate went and how well they prepared their debates. At first it was intended to last 15 minutes and they spent the whole single period debating on this!
Mr Berni Laguna, Teacher of Spanish and Language Assistant
