In Japan, parents who are seeking adoption have high hopes for the success of a new plan that is in place to create a network organization of obstetrics and gynecology hospitals to assist and mediate the adoption process.  The aim of this network will be to increase the transparency of the adoption process and reduce the sometimes exorbitant fees that are charged.  However, according to the hospitals expecting to join the network, government assistance will be a necessary stepping stone if they are to help facilitate and improve the adoption process through mediation.

One mother who recently adopted a child through the conventional process stated, “I thought it made no sense that I had to pay a large amount of money to adopt a child.”  She reiterated that after paying for extensive fertility treatments and still being unable to conceive, paying so much for the adoption process had drained her financial resources.   “I paid the treatment fees because it was for my own benefit,” she said. “If I paid that money to the adoption organizations, I would feel as if I was buying a child. I thought the organizations were exploiting the disadvantaged position of women who wanted to have children.”

The eventual price she paid to adopt her son was more than ¥200,000, which equals to over $2,000. After going through the process of adoption, she learned of the new plans for the adoption network and stated, “I hope that a more transparent system will be created so that as many children as possible can be taken in by their new families.”

The adoption mediation network will begin operating this week and has a core membership of 20 medical institutions.