An outmoded provision in the Civil Code is causing many remarried women and their children hardship concerning the children's family registry. Article 772 of the Civil Code, which took effect in 1898, stipulates that a baby born to a woman within 300 days of her divorce must be regarded as having been fathered by her former husband and registered under his name.
On one hand, this article helps women whose former husbands refuse to acknowledge actual paternity or refuse to pay child support. On the other hand, the clause causes distress for remarried women -- and their families -- who have given birth to children fathered by their current husbands within 300 days of their divorce.
Given the relatively high divorce rate among today's Japanese and the fact that some babies are delivered prematurely -- sometimes deliberately through Caesarean section for health reasons -- the government should consider revising the article.