Like her character Antonia, Sonia Braga was in fact in New York on 9/11/2001. Braga woke up when the plane that hit the North Tower flew right over her building, and witnessed the second collision. Leandra Leal (Sabrina) was also at New York on this day with her mother Ângela Leal.
Each episode ended with real-life testimonials. A 68-year-old woman talked about a personal experience with orgasm and sued producers and Rede Globo for using her account. Creator Manoel Carlos's himself admitted his crew exaggerated at that point and asked for discretion.
Renata Sorrah was offered the role of Marta but declined after portraying the antagonist Nazaré in Her Own Destiny (2004). Lília Cabral was then cast for the part whilst Sorrah portrayed Tereza.
The TV show attracted a great deal of controversy with health secretaries in Brazil due to the AIDS diagnosis given to the character played by Miguel Lunardi when his character was diagnosed by his doctor when the man just saw his lesions without making any tests. The health officials complained that the procedure isn't like that, and tests are really conducted.