A group of Japanese lawmakers from different political parties has recently put together a revised rough draft of a bill on assisted reproductive technology
The main aim of this bill is to ensure that children conceived through assisted reproduction have the right to know information about their biological parents. The revised draft proposes the disclosure of certain information about third-party donors, such as height, blood type, and age, without revealing their personal identities.
This information would be made available to the children once they reach adulthood, even without the donor’s consent, unless the donor had explicitly requested otherwise before their passing.
These particular points were not present in the original rough draft that was compiled in March 2022
Now that the draft has obtained approval from all participating political parties, the cross-party group, led by Seiko Noda, former minister for addressing Japan’s declining birthrate, aims to have the bill enacted during the ordinary parliamentary session next year.
In anticipation of future cases where donor-conceived children seek to learn about their origins, the draft proposes that medical institutions involved in assisted reproduction provide certain information, such as the names and social security and taxation identification details of the couple, the child, and the sperm or egg donor, to the National Center for Child Health and Development. The center will then keep this information for a period of 100 years.
It’s important to note that under this draft, only infertile married couples are eligible for assisted reproductive technology treatment
Common-law couples and same-sex couples are currently excluded from the provisions of the bill. The draft also specifies that the allowed procedures are limited to artificial insemination using a third-party donor’s sperm, in-vitro fertilization using a third-party donor’s sperm and the wife’s egg, and in-vitro fertilization using the husband’s sperm and a third-party donor’s egg. The draft does not currently address the topic of surrogate births, and discussions related to this matter have been postponed.
To ensure the quality and integrity of assisted reproduction services, the draft proposes that medical institutions and related referral agencies obtain government authorization. These authorized institutions would be prohibited from engaging in practices that prioritize certain blood types.
It’s worth mentioning that Japan already has a special law related to the Civil Code that establishes parental relationships for children born through assisted reproductive technology
This law was enacted in December 2020. As a supplementary provision to this special law, it was stated that legal measures would be taken within approximately two years to address issues such as guaranteeing the right of donor-conceived children to know their biological parents. In response to this provision, the cross-party group compiled the rough draft of the bill in March 2022. However, consolidating the opinions of the involved parties proved to be challenging.
