While commodifying motherhood and financial exploitation are the main arguments hurled against surrogacy in the US, Japanese worry more about the risk of childbirth. A report by a committee of the Japan’s Science Council recently concluded that surrogacy should be banned, apart from further clinical research into the risks. About five in every 100,000 mothers die during childbirth, and passing this risk on to a third party bothers Japanese ethicists. The report also noted that some women could be coerced into surrogacy and that children might may suffer psychological damage if they discovered the story of their birth. However, the report concluded that if the procedure is not risky, it could be allowed. Some academics argue that a right to bear children is implicit in the Japanese Constitution. ~ Yomiuri Shimbun, Mar 25