Is surrogacy legal in Japan?
Unregulated
Japan has no specific surrogacy law; commercial surrogacy is proposed to be banned but remains unregulated.
Japan is one of 10 countries classified “Unregulated” for surrogacy — 23% of the 44 with data.
Source
- Taken from
- Wikipedia: Surrogacy laws by country
- Last checked
- 7 July 2026
- How it was classified
- Classified by a language model from the source text, then checked against hand-verified reference countries.
Nearby countries
- South Korea
- Unregulated South Korea had unregulated surrogacy in the mid-2010s, though commercial aspects became illegal.
- Hong Kong
- Banned Commercial surrogacy is criminal in Hong Kong under the Human Reproductive Technology Ordinance.
- Philippines
- Unregulated There is no legal framework for surrogacy in the Philippines, and it is prohibited by the Philippine Society of Reproductive Medicine.
- China
- Banned China forbids surrogacy with penalties for medical professionals, though underground commercial surrogacy exists.
- Vietnam
- Altruistic only Vietnam allows altruistic surrogacy for married couples with specific conditions, effective from 2015.
- Malaysia
- Banned Surrogacy is prohibited in Malaysia by a fatwa issued in 2008.
Other laws in Japan
- Abortion
- Legal (broad reasons)
- Euthanasia
- Varies by region
- Suicide Laws
- Not a crime
- Organ Donor Consent
- Opt-in (explicit consent)
A visual reference compiled from Wikipedia’s law-by-country articles, not legal advice. Laws change and summaries simplify — check a primary source before relying on anything here.