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.