This article is about the 1981 telenovela. For the list of productions of the same name read El Derecho de Nacer

El derecho de nacer

El derecho de nacer is the name of three Mexican productions as well as the Cuban novel that inspired them all about a young and unmarried high society woman seeking to abort her baby and the doctor who in counseling her tells his own story as an out-of-wedlock child.*El derecho de nacer is the...

El Derecho de Nacer is the name of the two Mexican

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 telenovela

Telenovela

A telenovela is a limited-run serial dramatic programming popular in Latin American, Portuguese, and Spanish television programming. The word combines tele, short for televisión or televisão , and novela, a Spanish or Portuguese word for "novel"...

s based on the Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

n radionovela of the same name written by Félix B. Caignet and adapted for TV by Fernanda Villeli. The 1981 series was produced by Ernesto Alonso

Ernesto Alonso

Ernesto Ramirez Alonso was a Mexican producer, director, cinematographer and actor. He was nicknamed "Señor Telenovela" because most of his work centered around telenovelas known around the world....

 and directed by Raúl Araiza

Raúl Araiza

Raúl Araiza Herrera is a Mexican actor and television presenter.He was born in Mexico City. He studied drama in the Centro de Educación Artística of Televisa. He has two daughters with his wife...

; it consisted of 150 episodes and consolidated Verónica Castro

Verónica Castro

Verónica Castro is a Mexican actress, singer and television host. She is the mother of singer Cristian Castro and filmmaker Michelle Sáinz Castro and the sister of actress Beatriz Castro,and telenovela producer José Alberto Castro....

's career after the success of Los Ricos También Lloran

Los ricos también lloran

Los Ricos También Lloran is a popular telenovela produced in Mexico in 1979, starring Verónica Castro, Rogelio Guerra and Rocío Banquells. Castro also sang the theme Aprendí a Llorar , a song written by Lolita de la Colina. The telenovela was produced by Chilean Valentín Pimstein and Carlos...

.

Plot

The story begins as a young woman seeks counsel by her doctor after she is left pregnant and debating if she should have an abortion.

Her doctor calms her and tells her that he wants to share a story with her before she makes her decision.

The doctor's name is Alberto Limonta and he begins recounting the story of the Del Junco family.....

Don Rafael Del Junco (Ignacio López Tarso) is the severe patriarch

Patriarch

Originally a patriarch was a man who exercised autocratic authority as a pater familias over an extended family. The system of such rule of families by senior males is called patriarchy. This is a Greek word, a compound of πατριά , "lineage, descent", esp...

 of a respected Veracruz

Veracruz

Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...

 family and demands absolute obedience from his two daughters María Elena and Matilde (real-life sisters Verónica and Beatriz Castro) and his wife Dona Constancia. María Elena manages to have an affair with a traveling sales

Sales

A sale is the act of selling a product or service in return for money or other compensation. It is an act of completion of a commercial activity....

man named Alfredo Martinez, played by Salvador Pineda. Martinez abandons her after knowing that she is pregnant with his child.

Don Rafael, in all of his fury sends María Elena and her black

Black

Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light...

 nanny María Dolores (Socorro Avelar) into hiding to avoid any scandals to his family.

The two women are kept prisoners by Bruno, the foreman (Julio César Inbert), who is instructed by Don Rafael to kill the baby as soon as it is born. María Dolores manages to arrange the disappearance of the baby boy and instead flees to Mexico City

Mexico City

Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...

 while the boy Albertico played by Verónica Castro

Verónica Castro

Verónica Castro is a Mexican actress, singer and television host. She is the mother of singer Cristian Castro and filmmaker Michelle Sáinz Castro and the sister of actress Beatriz Castro,and telenovela producer José Alberto Castro....

's real-life son Cristian Castro

Cristian Castro

Cristian Castro is a Grammy Award-nominated Mexican pop singer. He is referred to as "Christian Castro" or "Cristian."- Biography :...

. Albertico Limonta, who took the last name of Maria Dolores, knows nothing about the existence of María Elena.

The storyline has Alberto going back to Veracruz as he takes a job as a resident at the city hospital. It is there where he meets a young girl Amelia, who falls in love with him, but refuses to marry when she learns that Alberto has a black mother. As Alberto decides not to reveal that Maria Dolores is not his real mother, Cristina, a hospital volunteer, played by Erika Buenfil falls in love with him. Cristina is the adopted and grown up daughter of Matilde, who happens to be Alberto's real life aunt.

Alberto develops a relationship with the Del Junco family as Cristina introduces him to everyone. The Del Juncos', with exception of spiteful Matilde are taken by the young man. Maria Elena in fact, feels a special bond for her niece's boyfriend. Maria Elena is by then a nun living in a convent

Convent

A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...

 resigned a long time ago to never finding her son and her beloved nana.

A dramatic turn of events happens when Don Rafael del Junco pays an unsuspecting Maria Dolores a visit after he is given an emergency blood transfusion

Blood transfusion

Blood transfusion is the process of receiving blood products into one's circulation intravenously. Transfusions are used in a variety of medical conditions to replace lost components of the blood...

 by Alberto. The meeting of these two characters is the paramount event of the entire drama as Maria Dolores reveals to Don Rafael that Doctor Alberto Limonta, the blood donor is in fact the Del Junco heir sent to his death by his own grandfather.

Don Rafael gets home and has a stroke

Stroke

A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...

 which leaves him immobilized and unable to speak. This ploy prologued the drama for months in which Alberto and Cristina's love story takes a secondary role to the quest by Don Rafael's desire and his inability to tell Maria Elena that Albertico is her son.

Maria Elena, eventually meets Maria Dolores who reveals that she had to flee Veracruz to save the child. In a highly emotional episode, Maria Elena, and Maria Dolores tell Alberto the entire truth.

Alberto instead of happiness feels sadness and resentment as he believes that Cristina is his first cousin

Cousin

In kinship terminology, a cousin is a relative with whom one shares one or more common ancestors. The term is rarely used when referring to a relative in one's immediate family where there is a more specific term . The term "blood relative" can be used synonymously and establishes the existence of...

 making them an unlikely pair to marry. It is then when Matilde plagued by remorse and sadness confesses to Cristina that she is adopted; hence, permitting the two to marry.

Don Rafael now able to speak, wants Alberto to take the Del Junco name to which Alberto refuses and decides to keep Limonta instead as he had grown up with him.

Cast

Verónica Castro Verónica Castro Verónica Castro is a Mexican actress, singer and television host. She is the mother of singer Cristian Castro and filmmaker Michelle Sáinz Castro and the sister of actress Beatriz Castro,and telenovela producer José Alberto Castro....  as María Elena Salvador Pineda Salvador Pineda Salvador Pineda Popoca is a Mexican actor. He has participated in several telenovelas and Mexican movies, as well as two Hollywood low budget movies....  as Alfredo Ignacio López Tarso Ignacio López Tarso Ignacio López Tarso is a Mexican actor of stage, film and television. He is considered as one of the country's finest actors.-Early life:...  as Rafael Socorro Avelar as María Dolores Erika Buenfil Erika Buenfil Erika Buenfil is a Mexican actress best known for her work in telenovelas. Buenfil has also enjoyed minor success as a recording artist.-Early career:...  as Cristina del Junco Beatriz Castro as Matilde Cristian Castro Cristian Castro Cristian Castro is a Grammy Award-nominated Mexican pop singer. He is referred to as "Christian Castro" or "Cristian."- Biography :...  as Alberto (as a child) Laura Flores Laura Flores Laura Flores is a Mexican actress, hostess and singer, born in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico.- Biography:...  as Amelia Sergio Jiménez Sergio Jiménez Sergio Jiménez , born in Mexico City, was a Mexican actor who became famous after portraying the character of El Gato in the film Los caifanes. His last work was directing the telenovela La fea más bella...  as José Luis Armenteros Miguel Macía as Alejandro María Rubio as Clemencia Humberto Zurita Humberto Zurita Humberto Zurita is a Mexican actor, director and producer.Zurita, one of 10 siblings, is best known as actor, director and producer of telenovelas. He is married to Argentine-born actress Christian Bach and the family have two children, Sebastian and Emiliano...  as Alberto Miguel Angel Ferriz as Osvaldo Fernando Balzaretti Fernando Balzaretti Fernando Balzaretti was a late Mexican actor.-External links:...  as Ricardo Alba Nydia Díaz Alba Nydia Díaz Alba Nydia Díaz, born in Caguas, Puerto Rico, is an actress, known for her achievements in television and on-stage, both in the island as in Mexico.-Early years:...  as Virginia Manuel Ojeda Manuel Ojeda Manuel Salvador Ojeda Armenta is one of the most active actors of television and cinema in Mexico. He played the villain, Zolo, in the Hollywood film Romancing the Stone.-Career:...  as Armando Julio César Inbert as Bruno Eduardo Liñán as Padre Juan Flor Trujillo as Magali Adriana Lafan as Marina Malena Doria as Sor Julia

Hector Saez as Ramón Carlos Ignacio as Raúl Roberto Antunez as Alfonso Martha Patricia as Asunción Maristel Molina as Sor Amparo Andaluz Russel as Lolita José Luis Duvall as Salvador Julio Monterde as Nicolás Alberto Parra as Tony Jorge del Campo as Pepe Macario Álvarez as Inspector Alvarez Fabio Ramírez as Tio Pepe Margarita de la O as Josefa Silvia Manríquez Silvia Manríquez Silvia Manríquez is a Mexican actress. She is known for her roles in telenovelas.- Personal life :Manríquez was born in Mexico. Her childhood wish was to became an actress. Her mother was the only family member that approved of her career aspirations. Silvia is divorced and she has two children...  as Tete Lorena Rivero as Gina Carmen Rodríguez as Alma Adrián Sotomayor as Adrián Enrique Mazin as Doctor Jorge Patricia Renteria as Rosita Félix Santaella as Pedro Norma Herrea as María

External links

• El Derecho de Nacer at the Internet Movie Database
  Internet Movie Database
  Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
  
  .
• El Derecho de Nacer at the Telenovela Database.
• Russian telenovela site.