Posted on 10/15/2006 3:51:29 AM PDT by Aussie Dasher
A JAPANESE woman in her 50s gave birth to a child she had carried for her daughter, who was unable to conceive as she had her womb removed due to cancer, an obstetrician said on Sunday.
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 central prefecture of Nagano, told a news conference that 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 mother for the child of her daughter - effectively delivering her grandchild. 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, which critics say is a stance that ignores the interest of the child.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au ...
Pity the poor kid caught up in this weird social experimentation!!!
For a second, I thought they were going to call the father a m#&%$r f@*&$r.
Heather-suki really does have two mommies...
Reminds me of the old song, "I'm My Own Grandpa"
You gonna love this musical video!!
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/54702/im_my_own_grandpa/
Hardly a common set of circumstances....I feel sorry for them. And it is enlightening that this raises headlines where another abortion woyuld have gone unnoticed.Good luck to the family in making it work!
Modern medicine delivered a solution that I suspect has made several people very happy. Legal wranglings aside, nice story.
Re "dog's breakfast" - Wow, for once I disagree with you. I see good things ahead for this family, partly because of the loving unselfishness of the grandmother. Giving birth at her age isn't exactly "une pique nique". Sure the circumstances of birth were unusual, but as long as the child's privacy is protected (you wouldn't want the kids at school to find out, they'd tease the life out of him) it should be fine.
Absolute BS! This situation though not common is the ideal option IMHO. It was news in my city 10 years ago. We know the parents and grandparents or if you prefer, egg and sperm donor, and surrogate. The child is doing what children do. She is growing up in a perfectly normal household with a mom and dad that love her, and grandparents with a lot more invested than most.
I suppose it depends on how you define family.
***
Bad-Logic award.
The grandmother was impregnated purposely as a surrogate. She didn't find herself with an unplanned pregnancy and heroically "choose life."
Puhleeze.
I remembered a case of a US women doing this many years back. I wonder how they're doing today. The date on the story is October 13, 1991. That would make the twins 15 yrs old as of two days ago.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9D0CE7D9163CF930A25753C1A967958260
Here's an article that was written in 2004, on the occasion of Mrs. Schweitzer's(the grandmother/surrogate mom)book on the birth being published.
http://intendedparents.com/News/Rapid_City_surrogate_mom_shares_story_in_new_book.html
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew.
Why is it that I do not approve of these type of things, nor do I accept invitro fertilization.
Maybe it's because it always seems to me that it is always selfishly about the mothers and not about the children.
The child is a mere object in the poursuit of their own self-fulfillment and not an entity worthy of dignity in its own right.
I'm sure the ferilization occured in vitro, that is in lab dish or similar. All very clinical and not "Eeeew" at all. Well no more than a typical GYN exam that is. :)
I know how artificial insemination works. The EW factor is still there for me. :-P
I love my mother and she'd probably die for me and I've asked a lot of her in 38 years.
But I can't even begin to fathom asking her to carry a baby for me.
I suspect this child does not need your pity.
Considering the degree of sacrifice, effort and resolve this family showed to bring a child into the world, I think they'll all be just fine.
But had it not been for this social experiment, the child would not exist at all. Were I that child, I would definitely prefer to be born!
Well, first of all, it is "all in the family". And as for pity or not pity, remains to be seen - if there are genetic defects, then pity. But if there are no defects and if the child is properly brought up by its [his/her, gender unknown, thus "its"]genetic parents, then it might turn out all right after all.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.