‘Madre Sustituta’ Canceled By Televisa Who Claims Surrogacy Is An ‘Inadequate’ Topic For A Telenovela

"Madre Sustituta," the telenovela being developed by Giselle Gonzalez has been canceled due storyline dealing with the controversial topic of surrogacy. José Ron ("La Mujer del Vendaval") and Esmeralda Pimentel ("Abismo De Pasión") were confirmed as the lead couple of this melodrama based on the Korean drama titled "Loving You A Thousand Times." The drama centers on a couple that desperately tries to conceive a child and resort to a surrogate mother that ends up being involved with the family after she delivers the baby. Apparently this was a little too provocative for Televisa viewers who are accustomed to watching telenovelas that are more superficial where the poor girl ends up with the rich heartthrob or finds out she is an heir to millions of pesos from an estranged father.

It was rumored that the Mexican giant had halted the pre-production of the new melodrama over concerns of the storyline and José Ron recently announced the cancellation. "It has been cancelled," he told an "Hoy" reporter. "It had a lot to do with the topic of the telenovela that was something inadequate for the network and for the time-slot... they did not accept the story." "Madre Sustituta" would have been the first production by Gonzalez after co-producing with Roberto Gomez Fernandez on telenovelas like "Para Volver A Amar" and "Cachito de Cielo." For now Ron said he would concentrate on taking acting classes and is hopeful that he will be able to work with Giselle Gonzalez in the future.

José Ron had already expressed the future of "Madre Sustituta" was uncertain on radio show "Formula Espectacular." "We are waiting for the start date of production. We were to start filming this week but it was postponed until next week, but from what I can see I don't think it will be next week either, maybe the following week," he said. "I am awaiting to see what happens, what I do know is that the telenovela will be produced, but in this business one never knows and we will have to wait. Ron would have played a character named Sebastián who lives in the U.S. and disapproves of the family business who later moves to Mexico and meets Pimentel's character.