GIFU (Kyodo) Seiko Noda, a 50-year-old House of Representatives member, gave birth to a boy at a Tokyo hospital Thursday morning, her Gifu-based office said, marking a successful end to years of fertility treatment.
Noda, a Liberal Democratic Party member, became pregnant last year through artificial insemination using ova from a third party in the United States.
The boy was born by cesarean section about a month early, the office said. Noda, a former posts and telecommunications minister, was hospitalized in December because of the risk of premature delivery.
In a press release, Noda said she became pregnant in May and gave birth to a boy at 9:31 a.m., and she will be on maternity leave for the time being.
Both Noda and her child are in good health, according to the office.
Noda, who was once touted as a potential candidate to become Japan's first female prime minister, revealed last year that she had become pregnant via in vitro fertilization using donor eggs and the sperm of her partner, with whom she has a de facto marital relationship.