A local government has refused to register the birth of twins born to an American surrogate mother, their Japanese parents said Wednesday.
The parents, who are in their 50s and applied to register the birth of the twins last month, said they will ask the city how they should get the application accepted.
They also said they are considering filing a lawsuit to seek nullification of the city's decision.
The names and address of the family are being withheld to protect their privacy.
The Justice Ministry, which had been asked by the city for its opinion, has already decided that the twins cannot be registered as the offspring of the couple because the wife did not actually give birth to them.
As grounds for its decision, the ministry cited a 1962 Supreme Court ruling in which the top court said the relationship of mother and child results, in principle, from childbirth.
The twins were born in 2002 in the United States.