In 2004, Diet lawmaker Seiko Noda wrote a book titled "Watashi wa Umitai" ("I Want to Give Birth"), which chronicled her years of infertility treatments and the subsequent pregnancy that ended in miscarriage. Two years later she ended her six-year relationship with fellow politician Yosuke Tsuruho, who in the book was portrayed as being against the treatments.

Though Noda always referred to Tsuruho as her "husband," they were never technically married as they did not share a koseki (family register). Noda belongs to the Liberal Democratic Party and calls herself a conservative, but she is also in favor of bessei (allowing separate names for married couples), which most conservatives strongly oppose because they believe it undermines family unity.

Noda retains a certain maverick reputation in Japanese politics. Last month she fortified her notoriety when she announced that, at the age of 49, she was pregnant. Having a baby at her age is eyebrow-raising enough, but Noda revealed that the pregnancy was the result of expensive treatment she underwent in the United States involving the donation of a third-party egg. After having passed the 15th week without any problems, she decided to make the news public in the magazine Shukan Shincho.