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Collecting and reporting national data has become a routine practice for assisted reproductive technology (ART) governance. This article compares the building of national registries, the making of ...

A new prenatal genetic testing technique using cell-free fetal DNA in maternal plasma, the Non-Invasive Prenatal Test (or NIPT), was introduced in Japan in 2013. The NIPT is easy and safe but not definitive; it also has high sensitivity and specificity under certain conditions. In the near future, it could be used not only for detecting chromosomal aneuploidy, but also complete genome analysis of the fetus. However, termination of pregnancy is the only option for those wanting to avoid having a baby with a chromosomal anomaly or a genetic disease. Given this situation, this review explores the ethical and social issues surrounding prenatal genetic testing focusing on three points: 1) selective abortion as an ethical issue, 2) informed consent and decision making, and 3) alternative perspectives on prenatal testing.

This study reports on 82 unduplicated cases of violence against women and children after the Great East Japan Disaster of March 2011. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire from informants who worked with the disaster-affected populations. In addition to domestic violence, reported cases involved sexual assault and unwanted sexual contact, including quid pro quo assault perpetrated by nonintimates. Perpetrators often exploited a sense of fear, helplessness, and powerlessness and used threats to force compliance with sexual demands in exchange for life-sustaining resources. Findings point to the urgent need to develop measures to prevent and respond to postdisaster gender-based violence.

In Japan, gynecological examinations (GEs) are normally conducted on a specially designed examination table called naishin-dai . Recent naishin-dai are remarkably high-tech, equipped with mechanisms to automatically position the patient perfectly for the GE, so “all patients need to do is sit.” However, such hightech machines are not commonly used in the West. To determine what sociocultural contexts legitimize and encourage such development, we conducted semistructured interviews with manufacturers of naishin-dai and gynecology practitioners in Japan, as well as gynecology practitioners in Taiwan, South Korea, Britain, France, and the United States. Comparative analysis of these data by employing the concept of genderscript revealed that multilayered and interrelated inscriptions of gendered norms and relations provided such legitimacy and encouragement. Furthermore, the genderscripts of naishin-dai are in fact East Asian genderscripts, which reveal how traditional East Asian stereotypes of women patients are framed in the practice of modern Western gynecology.

In the scandal around Korean stem cell scientist Woo-Suk Hwang, the inappropriate collection of human eggs as research material, fabricated data on ES cells obtained through somatic cell nuclear transfer, and fraudulent fundraising were condemned as legal and ethical transgressions. Among the criticisms, the donation of eggs by many women became a big issue. Some of the women were motivated by financial compensation or in-kind support, while others decided to donate their eggs without payment, being convinced that the research would bring therapy for thus far incurable patients, a promise unfulfilled. Regardless of the multiple reports published to articulate why the Hwang scandal happened in South Korea, we realized during our ethnographical fieldwork in that country that it would be meaningful to consider the ethical issues in a global context. In this paper, we focus on the motivations of the South Korean women who donated their eggs voluntarily as research materials, and aim to understand it in a more...