A Health and Welfare Ministry committee has compiled a final report proposing that close relatives be allowed to provide sperm or ovum to infertile couples, ministry officials said.
The panel, headed by Kinko Nakatani, professor emeritus of law at Keio University, said laws allowing the provision of ovum or sperm by close relatives should be enacted within three years.
The committee, however, has not specified who would constitute a "close" relative.
The provision is expected to bring about a major change in the nation's infertility treatment. So far, the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology has allowed only sperm from a unrelated donor to be used in in vitro fertilization.
A condition of the treatment is that the identity of the donor is not disclosed.
The society has banned use of donated ova, citing possible health-related risks accompanying the procedure to extract them.
The panel proposed that the identities of donors not be disclosed, but some experts have said it would be difficult to withhold such information if they are close relatives.
The ministry formed the panel after several doctors nationwide provided their patients with this kind of infertility treatment despite the medical society's stance against it.
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