Statelessness Working Paper Series No. 2017/5 Cross-border Gestational Surrogacy in Japan and the Spectre of Statelessness Patrick Balazo Statelessness Working Paper Series No. 2017/5 Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion December 2017 Author biography Patrick Balazo is a Research Fellow with the Statelessness Network Asia Pacific (SNAP) and recent graduate of the MA program in International Development Studies, Dalhousie University. For his MA research, Patrick explored how recently acquired nationality has been of benefit to Sri Lanka’s previously stateless Up-country Tamil population. Patrick also has a BA in International Development Studies, Dalhousie University, completing an honours thesis on the responsibility of the international community in defending the human rights of stateless persons in Myanmar. Author email Patrick.Balazo@Dal.ca Key words Statelessness in Japan—Gestational surrogacy—Parentage—nationality—Koseki. Abstract Taking the practice of cross-border gestational surrogacy in Japan as its focus, this paper explores how this assisted reproductive technology may render children born through this method of reproduction to be at an increased risk of statelessness. Japan’s de facto prohibition on gestational surrogacy compels many to pursue cross-border surrogacy arrangements, but because Japanese laws on maternity and paternity have not kept pace with advances in biomedical technology, children who have no control over the circumstances of their birth are left with an uncertain legal status upon arrival in their intended home country of Japan. Fortunately, Japan is well-positioned to address this issue, and through the establishment a domestic regulatory framework, Japan could reduce and prevent cross-border surrogacy-related statelessness before the numbers of children affected begin to swell. 3