TV personalities, or tarento in the vernacular parlance, wage a never-ending battle against encroaching irrelevance. They impose on our consciousness, and one of the easiest ways to do that without offering a compelling skills set is to exploit personal circumstances that are none of our business. Last June, Riko Higashio underwent a serum marker test to check on her unborn child. It was the first baby for the 37-year-old pro golfer, the daughter of former Seibu Lions manager Osamu Higashio and the much younger wife of fellow tarento Junichi Ishida. Prenatal screening is recommended for women over a certain age, and the test came back positive, indicating an increased possibility that the fetus could have the developmental disorder Down syndrome (DS).
Normally the doctor suggests a followup test, such as amniocentesis, but Higashio decided to forego further screening, saying there was no point since she decided she would deliver the baby regardless of what happened. Former long distance runner-cum-TV tarento and current Kumamoto city assemblyperson Akemi Matsuno criticized Higashio in the weekly Josei Seven. Matsuno's son has DS, and she thought Higashio's disclosure of her screening information was self-serving. The child was born in November without any apparent disabilities and received a great deal of press coverage, certainly more than if Higashio hadn't talked about her pregnancy and Matsuno hadn't weighed in.
The story provoked the media's interest in screening, which is controversial, especially since a new blood test was developed to check fetal DNA. On March 9, the Japan Down Syndrome Association announced that it was opposed to guidelines the health ministry had drawn up for the test because they "could result in discrimination against DS individuals." The test is said to be 99 percent accurate for negative results and 80-95 percent accurate for positive results. The ostensible reason for having a prenatal check is to find abnormalities that can be treated, either during the pregnancy or thereafter, but DS is not one of them. The association is afraid that testing will lead to an increase in abortions of fetuses with less desirable qualities, a form of eugenics. But once a technology is available it's difficult to withdraw, and doctors are saying that rather than restrict the blood test, counseling should be provided to expectant mothers so that they understand the ramifications of the results. The average age for first-time mothers is increasing, and birth defects become more likely the older a woman is. Some experts say the very existence of the test could mean more pregnancies, since women may be inclined to have children if they think they can always abort fetuses found to have birth defects. The most significant outcome of the media interest in prenatal testing is a discussion of abortion itself, a subject they usually avoid.