TV celebrity Aki Mukai said Friday that her attempt to have an American surrogate mother give birth to her child in the United States has ended in failure.
The in vitro fertilization of Mukai's eggs and sperm from her husband, 40-year-old pro wrestler Nobuhiko Takada, was unsuccessful at a U.S. medical institution, she wrote on her Web site Friday.
If a fertilized egg had been obtained successfully, it would have been implanted in the surrogate mother's womb.
Mukai had been told of the low chances of success of the procedure, she wrote.
"I felt like fainting when I was told, but the surrogate mother promised she will continue to help," Mukai wrote.
She said she will continue to discuss future possibilities with her doctors.
The 37-year-old, who left Aug. 10 for the U.S., was diagnosed with uterine cancer in 2000 while she was pregnant. She had to terminate her pregnancy and underwent a hysterectomy.
Although surrogate mothers are used in other countries, the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology opposes the practice on moral and ethical grounds because it believes it imposes physical and mental strain on the surrogate mothers and runs counter to the welfare of the child.