I think this is a really good thing this mom did for her daughter. If the opportunity arose, I would not be able to do it because my doctor strongly advised I have my tubes tied after my last pregnancy (because of how sick I got) and I did.
TOKYO -- A woman in her 50s gave birth last year to a child using an egg from her daughter and sperm from the daughter's husband, the maternity clinic director who supervised the procedure announced Saturday.
This is the first time in Japan that a woman has acted as a surrogate mother for her daughter.
The woman did so since her daughter, who is in her 30s, had her womb removed and is unable to conceive children, said Yahiro Netsu, director of the Suwa Maternity Clinic in Shimosuwamachi.
Kazumasa Hoshino, professor emeritus of life ethics at Kyoto University, said four cases of surrogate births in which grandmothers acted as surrogate mothers had been reported overseas -- two each in Britain and the United States -- since the 1990s.
Such surrogate births are seen to complicate family relationships, and debates over surrogate births are likely to be stirred by this case.
Netsu said the daughter had surgery to remove her womb after getting married. Her husband is also in his 30s. At the request of the daughter's mother, Netsu performed in vitro fertilization and implanted a fertilized egg into the womb of the mother in 2004. She delivered the child in spring last year.
Both the surrogate mother and the child have been in good health. The doctor did not reveal the gender of the child, who was registered as a child of the surrogate mother and later adopted by the daughter and her husband.
Netsu announced in May 2001 that he had conducted the nation's first surrogate birth with a woman whose elder sister had an operation on her uterus. The woman gave birth to a child using the egg of her elder sister.
In April 2003, a subpanel on assisted reproduction technology of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry's health, welfare and science council compiled a report stating surrogate births should be banned and punitive measures should be imposed on violators.
The report was compiled over concerns that surrogate mothers would have to shoulder risks associated with getting pregnant and giving birth. It was also concerned that trouble could occur if surrogate mothers refused to hand over children they delivered. The Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology also in April 2003 hammered out guidelines to prohibit surrogate births.
Netsu previously revealed he had supervised two other surrogate births, including the one he revealed in May 2001. He now says he has supervised three more, including the case of the woman in her 50s.
Regarding that woman's case, Netsu said, "It could become a model case for surrogate births since the problem of a surrogate mother refusing to hand over a child could be averted."
Source: http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/10172006/worldnation-ph-wn-surrogate1017.html
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