Photo/Illutration Takeshi Hasuda, right, the head of Jikei Hospital in Kumamoto, shows an envelope containing copies of the new mother’s IDs at a Jan. 4 news conference. Seen in the left is Makoto Hasuda, who is in charge of the hospital’s office for consultations about newborns. (Rina Horikoshi)

KUMAMOTO—An underage woman appears to have given the first “confidential birth” under Jikei Hospital’s system that allows women with unplanned pregnancies to remain anonymous.

Takeshi Hasuda, the head of Jikei Hospital, said at a news conference on Jan. 4 that the woman who lives in western Japan first consulted hospital staff through email in mid-November, when she was nine months pregnant.

She told hospital staff that she wanted to give birth anonymously because she feared her mother would cut ties if she found out about the pregnancy. The woman was also worried that her partner might beat her.

She visited the hospital the following month and was discharged after delivery.

The woman expressed her willingness in writing to use a special adoption system to find someone who can look after her baby, according to the hospital.

“We want not only Kumamoto city but also the central government to take a practical approach (to the issue of confidential births) to stop new mothers from abandoning or killing unwanted newborns as much as possible,” Hasuda said.

Hospital staff tried to persuade the woman to divulge her identity. Hasuda said he told her that her baby may keep longing for her since it would be tough for a child to know nothing about the mother.

She later revealed her identity to a hospital staff member in charge of the office for consultations about newborns.

The hospital also said it received copies of her health insurance card and a high school student ID card and will keep those copies in a safe.

The information will be stored to allow the child to learn the identity of his or her mother after reaching adulthood.

The hospital said it will hold on to a birth report, with the mother’s name left blank, for the time being.

Hasuda said the woman could later enter her name as the child’s mother in the birth report for submission to the local government office if she decides to raise the baby.

He said the new mother went to see the baby every day during hospitalization and seemed to have a deep affection for the child.

Hospital staff are keeping in touch with the woman and will again discuss the matter with her during her next visit to the hospital expected within a month at the earliest, according to the hospital.

In November last year, another underage woman who revealed her identity only to some hospital workers gave birth at the hospital. She changed her mind after delivery and took the child home.

Hasuda revealed that another woman is also consulting the hospital about giving birth anonymously.

Japan has no legal provisions for confidential births, which poses a problem for local governments when it comes to accepting a birth report without a mother’s name.

Jikei Hospital introduced its confidential birth system in December 2019 to prevent a mother from giving birth by herself at home that could place both her and the baby in grave danger.

The hospital has been seeking cooperation from the central and local governments in creating a legal system to deal with such births.

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