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Latest Surrogacy News
Surrogate births, Japan
debates
27 Feb 2004
Medical News Today
Despite its wide
acceptance of various innovative medical practices,
Japan still seems to be ambivalent toward surrogate
childbirth, which is controversial but not
technically difficult.
The 10th installment in Matters of Opinion follows
the theme: 'Should surrogate childbirth be accepted
by Japanese society?' The topic was debated by
Yahiro Netsu, director of Suwa Maternity Clinic, and
Michiko Ishii, a professor of law at Tokyo
Metropolitan University.
Netsu, 61, argued that surrogacy represented a
scientific breakthrough in efforts to help women
unable to carry a baby in their wombs, while Ishii,
51, insisted that the method posed various risks for
those involved, including the possibility that the
procedure could erode families ties.
What's surrogate birth ? There are two methods of
surrogate birth--childbirth involving a surrogate
mother, and surrogate childbirth involving a host
mother.
Childbirth involving a surrogate mother involves
artificial insemination of an egg from the surrogate
with sperm from the husband of an infertile woman.
The fertilized egg implanted in the surrogate mother
develops until childbirth. The surrogate mother is
genetically related to the child.
Surrogate childbirth involving a host mother
requires an egg to be removed from an infertile
woman and artificially fertilized with sperm from
her husband. The embryo is then implanted in the
womb of a host mother, where it develops until
childbirth. The host mother is not genetically
related to the baby. This method can be best
utilized by a woman who was born without a womb or
had to have her womb removed for some reason.
Pro (Yahiro Netsu): Science offers hope for
childless couples
The Daily Yomiuri: What did television personality
Aki Mukai's successful effort to have a baby through
surrogate birth in the United States mean to you?
Yahiro Netsu: Ms. Mukai's action has done much to
support my argument concerning surrogate conception
in recent years, although I wish she had tried to
have a baby in Japan. Still, her coming out with a
desire to have a baby through surrogate birth was an
attempt to overcome the status quo in which the
biological mother of a baby is defined as the legal
mother of the child in this country. She has played
a great role in encouraging infertile couples in
Japan to follow suit.
Why should surrogate childbirth involving a host
mother be recognized as a legitimate solution to
infertility?
Surrogate childbirth is a breakthrough in efforts to
help women without wombs have babies of their own.
Progress in reproductive medicine has made this
possible.
Today, in vitro fertilization has been accepted as a
legitimate form of reproductive medicine. Artificial
insemination by donor (AID) also has played a
pioneering role in this regard. If an artificial
reproductive method involving sperm can be approved,
I don't see why using another's eggs must be banned.
It should be remembered that various artificial
methods and devices have been accepted and used in
the field of reproductive medicine for many years,
including ovulation-inducing drugs.
Many critics have said that the principal duty of
medical doctors is not just to accommodate the
wishes of patients.
I've sought to help six women have babies through
surrogate birth. Two of them had children in fact.
All these women were born without wombs, or had to
have their wombs removed for some reason. No one
would dispute that they deserved genuine sympathy.
Meanwhile, I have never accommodated the wishes of
any women seeking surrogate childbirth just because
they don't want to go through labor.
How do you relate surrogate childbirth to medical
ethics?
Simply put, it's a matter of whether you are
accustomed to it or not. By and large, medical
ethics reflects what kind of thinking prevails in a
given time. In this sense, the prevalence of AID
today shows how much members of the public have
become used to it.
Undoubtedly, some risks are involved in surrogate
childbirth--a baby born with disabilities, for
example. What if a woman requesting a surrogate
birth refused to take such a child?
That could happen to any ordinary married couple who
have a baby just like others. Some men and women may
be irresponsible enough to abandon their babies.
They also may refuse to take their babies home from
hospitals where they were born with physical
defects. It's a matter of how they have been raised
and educated. The art of reproductive medicine
requires a relationship of mutual trust among those
involved.
If any infertile married couples refuse to take
babies born with disabilities as a result of
surrogate childbirth, the government must look after
those children, just as it deals with ordinary
children abandoned by their parents.
Still, no such system has yet been established.
If no one takes such a baby, I will. The
responsibility to raise such hapless babies rests
with me while the system is not yet in place. If I
die, my children will take care of the children
instead.
Should childbirth involving a surrogate mother also
be accepted in Japan?
Our recognition of surrogate childbirth should go
that far in the future. Acceptance of both AID and
surrogate birth involving a host mother is
tantamount to giving a green light to childbirth
involving a surrogate mother. Even so, it will be
extremely hard to win support for this in Japan.
Should a surrogate mother be involved on a voluntary
basis if such a scenario transpired?
Precisely. No commercial purposes should be pursued
in this, either. If they delivered babies as
surrogate mothers, many Japanese women would find it
difficult to accept that the children did not belong
to them. You can hardly expect them to serve as
surrogate mothers purely on a commercial basis, as
in the United States.
Efforts to place a legal ban on surrogate conception
are gathering momentum. Do you intend to take any
specific actions if such a law has been established?
I've strived--and will continue to strive--to
prevent that from taking place. If a ban on
surrogate birth is written into law, I'm determined
to file a lawsuit against the government, insisting
that it runs counter to the Constitution.
Is there anything you're sorry about regarding your
successful efforts to help the two women have babies
through surrogate births?
I've lost contact with both women now. The first
woman was proud that she was the first to have a
baby through surrogate birth in Japan. But an expose
of her case by a national newspaper inflicted
unbearable pain on her. A series of ensuing negative
reports about surrogate birth by that paper played a
primary role in undermining efforts to facilitate
the method in this nation.
Eventually, she wanted me to leave her alone.
Something similar happened to the second woman. An
excessive measure of media attention given to the
two women has left them feeling as if they have done
something outrageous. Early recognition of surrogate
birth by the public would ease the psychological
burden carried by such women.
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