A draft report compiled by an academic panel calls for introduction of a new law to ban surrogate births through penalizing doctors and mediators, but not surrogate mothers.
While a health ministry panel concluded in 2003 that surrogate births should be completely banned with penalties, the latest report by the working group of the Science Council of Japan takes a more lenient stance and suggests that only those who are involved in such practice for profit should be punished.
The working group will present the draft report to its umbrella body meeting Friday so the higher body, chaired by Shigehiko Kamoshita, a professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo, can finalize a report on the issue by the end of this month at the earliest.