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Paper short abstract:

Japan is a heavy-weight utilizer of in vitro fertilization. Yet, it has hirtherto largely defied the growing global trend of selecting embryos for life based on their genetic profile. To yield insight into grass-root eugenic procreation, this paper will zoom in on this peculiar case of Japan.

Paper long abstract:

Japan is an in vitro fertilization (IVF) giant: it resorts to it like no other country and has a third more hospitals and clinics offering fertility treatment than the second largest utilizer of IVF—the United States, which is a nation with, notably, more than twice the Japanese population. Against the backdrop, it is conspicuous that Japan remains one of the very few countries to resist reproduction through life selection, or, in other words, the procedure known as Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD), which involves genetic profiling of embryos. Indeed, despite its biomedical prowess, Japan was a late-comer to the international PGD scene, having performed its first such case only in 2004—a decade and a half since the pioneering such instance in London’s Hammersmith Hospital. Furthermore, even today PGD is not recognized in standard clinical practice. To be more precise, the decision of whether implementation is warranted or not is made on a case-by-case basis, with only about 100 applications having so far made it through this screening—a figure which is miniscule compared to those in other developed nations. With a view to enriching the international debate on the future of human reproduction as well as provide a novel insight into the dynamics in contemporary Japanese society, this paper will zoom in on this curious case of grass-roots eugenics abstinence.