The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a suit in which a couple had requested that authorities register as their children the twin babies they had via an American surrogate mother, upholding a ruling issued by the Osaka High Court.
The presiding justice at the top court's First Petty Bench, Chiharu Saiguchi, did not give a full explanation for rejecting the claim filed by the couple, both in their 50s, saying, "The original decision (of the high court) is warranted."
The twins were born through in vitro fertilization, using eggs from an American woman of Japanese ancestry and the Japanese husband's sperm.
The couple's submission of the birth notification was rejected in January 2004, leading them to seek to have the rejection nullified at a family court in Hyogo Prefecture, which also dismissed their claim.
The high court ruled last May that surrogate birth poses a serious humanitarian concern as it treats a person as a reproductive tool and causes danger to that individual through pregnancy and giving birth.
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