Mother gives birth to daughter’s child

A JAPANESE woman in her 50s has given birth to a child she carried for her daughter, who was unable to conceive because she had her womb removed due to cancer, a clinic revealed yesterday.

The case is likely to further stir debate in Japan about births by surrogate mothers, which both the government and a key medical association oppose.

Yahiro Netsu, the head of a maternity clinic in the prefecture of Nagano, said the woman gave birth in the first half of 2005 using an egg from her daughter and sperm from the daughter’s husband, both in their 30s.

Kyodo news agency said it was the first time in Japan that a woman has acted as a surrogate for the child of her daughter — effectively delivering her grandchild.

Mr Netsu said the baby — whose gender has not been revealed — was first registered as a child of the surrogate mother and later adopted by the daughter and her husband.

The Japanese Justice Ministry takes a position that the woman who gives birth, not the biological mother, is the mother of the child, a stance critics say ignores the interest of the child.

The issue came into the spotlight after a Japanese celebrity couple had twins through a surrogate mother and were denied their request to register the children as their own. They are fighting their case in court.