Tag: Japan

Japan Should Update Laws on Assisted Reproduction: Yomiuri Shimbun

The Straits Times | December 7, 2020

This Editorial in the Straits Times asserts that legislation in Japan must keep up with advances in assisted reproductive technology, including regulation to safeguard babies born and to address egg and sperm donation and surrogacy. The Editorial raises issues of ethics, commercialization and eugenics and calls on the application of a supplementary provision of a new special law that would study a range of issues and enact legal measures related to assisted reproduction.

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Bill Submitted in Japan to Recognize Donated Egg, Sperm Users as Parents

Kyodo News | November 16, 2020

In Japan, ruling and opposition parties have submitted a bill that legally recognizes the parentage of those having children using donated eggs or sperm. Current Japanese law has no provisions for in vitro fertilization involving donors. There has been some pushback against the bill, as it does not grant those born under these circumstances access to the identities of the donors. Additionally, this bill postpones decisions on legalizing surrogacy and payment for eggs and sperm.

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Article: Japanese Man Wins Sole Custody of 13 Surrogacy Children

Japanese Man Wins Sole Custody of 13 Surrogacy Children
By Daniel Hurst | The Guardian | Feb. 20, 2018

the guardianIn a saga that started in 2014, one of the richest men in Japan has just been granted custody of children he commissioned from Thai gestational mothers. In its ruling, the central juvenile court “found the father had no history of bad behaviour and would provide for the children’s happiness.”

This case first came to light in the regulatory upheaval following the case of Baby Gammy in Thailand, and resulted in the country’s eventual ban on international commercial surrogacy. It continues to raise questions as, according to Sam Everingham, a director of the Australia-based consultancy Families Through Surrogacy, an example of “an unacceptable abuse of the limited pool of gestational surrogates globally” and, more broadly, the ethics of a practice that does not protect the rights of the women and children involved.

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Article: In Japan First, Woman Gives Birth Using Egg From Anonymous Donor

In Japan First, Woman Gives Birth Using Egg From Anonymous Donor
By Mizuho Aoki | Japan Times | March 22, 2017

Japan has witnessed the birth of its first baby using anonymous donor eggs. As the country prepares for others, important questions about legal parentage and the status of birth mothers are also being raised.

According to this article, a 2007 ruling by the Japanese Supreme Court currently grants legal status to the woman who gives birth. While there is no precedent or specification in the civil code for when a child is born as a result of donated eggs, a draft bill granting legal status to the birth mother in third-party reproduction could be in the pipeline.

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Journal: Transnational Reproductive Travel

Transnational Reproductive Travel
By International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics, Vol. 7, No. 2 | University of Toronto Press | 2014

The International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics provides a forum within bioethics for feminist thought and debate. It is sponsored by the International Network on Feminist Approaches to Bioethics, and includes feminist scholarship on ethical issues related to health, health care, and the biomedical sciences.

Contributors to vol. 7, no. 2, titled Transnational Reproductive Travel, explore questions and ethics related to international commercial surrogacy, in countries such as Canada, Thailand, Japan, and Denmark. The issue also includes a commentary on the Hague Convention and a review of “Breeders: A Subclass of Women,” by Jennifer Lahl from Stop Surrogacy Now.

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Article: Gay Couple Win Custody Battle Over Thai Surrogate Mother

Gay Couple Win Custody Battle Over Thai Surrogate Mother
By Oliver Holmes | The Guardian | April 26, 2016

the guardianThis article follows up on a case in Thailand involving a same-sex couple that won a legal battle against the gestational mother who gave birth to their daughter, but refused to sign the paperwork to allow the baby to leave the country when she found out they were gay. It also provides links to articles covering the case of Baby Gammy and a 24-year old Japanese businessman who fathered 16 children with Thai gestational mothers – both of which led to the country’s current ban on the practice.

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For additional background on the case, read more by Oliver Holmes at The Guardian.