In our late thirties, still childless and struggling with infertility, we made the decision to undergo fertility treatment.
In infertility treatment, couples are typically required to submit "official documents proving their marital status" to confirm their relationship. For Japanese nationals, clinics confirm documents of “family registration” based on Japanese citizenship.
When we arrived at the clinic for the first time and submitted our “family register”, the clinic staff informed us that not all required documents had been submitted.
"The husband's marital status is confirmed, but the wife's is not confirmed."
"Please obtain and submit documentation proving your marriage from your home country's official authorities."
"Although we can proceed with the initial examination today, we can only inform you of the test results once all required documentation is provided."
We are a couple consisting of a Japanese husband and a foreign wife, legally married in Japan.
I am a Japanese national and possess a family register, which shows my wife’s name, nationality, date of birth, and the date of our marriage. This document unequivocally proves the legality of our marriage in Japan.
Marriage is a mutual relationship. If A is the spouse of B, then naturally B is also the spouse of A.
We argued in the clinic that:
"The family register, which lists my wife’s name as my spouse, clearly proves our marital status in Japan."
"It is illogical to acknowledge the marital status of one spouse while denying the other's status based on the same document."
However, the clinic insisted, citing "prevention of bigamy," that foreign nationals must provide "documentation proving their marriage issued by their home country's authorities," refusing to relent.
We believe that this clinic's policy constitutes "unreasonable treatment of foreign nationals" and constitutes "discrimination."
Some readers may initially consider the perspective of "preventing bigamy" rational. However, upon closer examination, many flaws and loopholes in this policy can be seen, rendering it irrational. The detailed explanation may be somewhat complex, so we will elaborate further on this in a separate post.
When we protested against the clinic's "unreasonable" policy, the doctor refused our treatment, saying:
"This is our policy. If you cannot accept it, you cannot receive treatment here."
In response, we said that:
"This policy is clearly discriminatory to minorities. We will share this issue among our community. While nobody might have previously pointed it out as a problem, with the increasing presence of individuals with foreign backgrounds, it will certainly become a significant issue in the future."
We left the clinic and never returned.
We are currently taking our fertility treatment at another clinic that checked our marital status solely through our family register.
Our current top priority is infertility treatment. In order to focus on that, we have also considered forgetting about and remaining silent on the discriminatory incident at the clinic.
However, considering that future patients with similar backgrounds might face the same situation, we decided not to remain silent.
Continuing with our infertility treatment, I have decided to voice my opinions in hopes of eliminating such discrimination.