Friday's Japanese Supreme Court ruling on surrogate births indicates that, for now, babies born to surrogate mothers cannot be registered in Japan as the legal children of their genetic parents.

The top court overturned the Tokyo High Court's ruling last September that would have allowed TV personality Aki Mukai and her husband, Nobuhiko Takada, a former professional wrestler, to have their twin boys registered in the family register at the Shinagawa Ward office in Tokyo.

The twins were born to a surrogate mother in the United States.

The high court ruling had supported a Nevada court's ruling that recognized the twin boys as the couple's own children, and it ordered the ward to accept the registration. The high court decision clearly placed foremost consideration on the future of the children.

But the Supreme Court reversed the lower court's ruling, deeming that under the law, the woman who gave birth to the babies is their mother. Basing its judgment on Japan's Civil Law, the court did not uphold the US judicial decision. The celebrity couple must be bitterly disappointed with the ruling.

As things stand now, however, we believe Friday's ruling was a realistic decision.

Rapid progress in reproductive medicine has led to many once unimaginable ways to have babies. Both the academic society concerned and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's expert committee researching this issue have recommended a ban on surrogate births.

The two groups argue that as surrogacy involves using another woman to carry the fetus to birth, it is not desirable from the viewpoint of the child's happiness.

The government considered drafting a bill to ban surrogate births, including a penal provision for violations. But the idea was shelved because it would have little prospect of passage in the Diet.

Meanwhile, fertility treatments are advancing rapidly. A steady stream of Japanese couples is going abroad in search of surrogate mothers, as Mukai and her husband did.

In one recent case, a woman in her late 50s served as a surrogate mother for her daughter, whose uterus had been removed because of cancer. The woman became pregnant after her daughter's egg was fertilized in vitro with her son-in-law's sperm, and she gave birth to the baby.

Another recent case concerned whether a deceased man should be recognized as the legal father of a child born after his death. The baby was conceived in vitro using the man's frozen sperm.

The lack of laws to deal with these questions is causing confusion. As it stands now, many important questions remain unresolved despite the possible negative impact on the future of the concerned newborns.

In its ruling Friday, the Supreme Court strongly urged swift parliamentary action on legislation to handle such cases.

In a supplementary opinion, the top court said efforts to reach a social consensus should be made to ensure that people can enjoy the benefits of medical progress without concern.

The court urged the Diet, the Japanese cabinet, to enact legislation based on such a consensus.

The mother-child relationship is a fundamental human bond at the heart of each person's family background. In most parts of the world, surrogate births are banned in general, although a few governments permit the procedure under certain conditions, including some states in the United States.

What position should our society take? If we prohibit surrogate births in principle, should we make exceptions for people who cannot hope to have children any other way? If so, what conditions should apply?

The health minister has asked the Science Council of Japan to begin examining whether surrogate births should be allowed. The question raises a wide range of issues concerning medical science, ethics, the legal system and what is best for the child's welfare.

As an authoritative group of academic experts, the council should work toward finding a national consensus on this issue as quickly as possible, while seeking the counsel and opinions of a broad range of people.

The Supreme Court also pointed out that Mukai and Takada could be allowed to adopt the children through a special arrangement.

The court thus appears to recognize that the couple is raising these children with all the tender loving care that parents can provide.

The Asahi Shimbun

(China Daily 03/27/2007 page11)