An obstetrician at work in an operating theatre
© AFP/File Didier Pallages

TOKYO (AFP) - Surrogacy is not a crime in Japan, but it is banned by the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

"She is likely to be the oldest surrogate mother yet recorded in Japan," Yahiro Netsu, the gynaecologist who performed the operation, said in a statement.

The woman became pregnant with an embryo created from the egg of her daughter, who has no uterus, and sperm from the daughter's husband, the statement said.

"We don't recommend late childbearing. But we perform operations for surrogate mothers who are mothers of biological mothers, considering that Japanese society lacks a support system for surrogacy," he said.

Netsu has helped several surrogate mothers, all of them having kinship ties with the biological mother.

©AFP