for surrogacy in the country." A year later, the Thai "Women and Child Welfare Protection Bureau, which is currently taking care of the children, has confirmed that six of the surrogate mothers, three of whom gave birth to twins, are seeking custody," their lawsuit alleging that the bureau is failing to adequately care for the children. By 2018, however, the women had forfeited their rights to the children and the Thai court had awarded paternity rights to "the Japanese businessman"—mostly likely Shigeta—who had fathered them. An additional six babies had also by that point been identified as having been fathered by Shigeta, bringing the total identified so far to 17. A 2018 CNN report revealed that Shigeta has two additional children born to surrogates in India. IVF and Artificial Insemination Rumors that Empress Masako of Japan had undergone IVF treatments were reported by the UK's The Independent in 2001. In 2001, a woman used the frozen sperm of her husband who had died two years previously from leukemia. "Originally, when the child's mother tried to register the birth, the local government refused to allow it, on the grounds that the father had died more than 300 days before the birth date and the normal length of human gestation is about 270 days. Under the Japanese Civil Code, a child is not recognized as having been born in wedlock if it is born more than 300 days after the end of a marital relationship." The mother filed a lawsuit to have her son legally recognized as the child of his father, saying that it was her husband's will that they have children and that her son will otherwise face discrimination for being illegitimate. "In November 2003, the first court ruled against the mother on the grounds of 'common sense' saying it was impossible to recognize the father-child relationship in such a case, and that there was little social awareness for acknowledging a deceased man as a child's father, even if his sperm was used. However, in July 2004, the Takamatsu High Court overturned the lower court's ruling. Now, following an appeal, the Supreme Court has overturned the High Court decision, saying that this was not a parent-child relationship that the Civil Code had envisaged. 'No parent-child relationship in a legal sense can be recognized, given the father died before she got pregnant and there is no possibility of the baby being