Seiko Noda, a Liberal Democratic Party member of the Lower House, has become pregnant through artificial insemination using an egg from someone in the United States after years of fertility treatment, sources said Wednesday.
The former minister in charge of posts and telecommunications, as well as consumers affairs, is currently 15 weeks pregnant and is scheduled to give birth around February, by which time she will be 50. Noda is not married but has a de facto marital relationship with her partner, they said.
In 2004, Noda published a book titled "Watashi wa Umitai" ("I Want to Give Birth") that describes her physical and emotional struggles in undergoing fertility treatment and her clashes with LDP House of Councilors member Yosuke Tsuruho, her former partner who was initially opposed to the treatment.