2023 Volume 3 Issue 1 Pages 19-27
In Japan, insurance coverage for infertility treatment began in April 2022. The Japanese government also announced the policy to offer subsides on treatment for fertility preservation in patients with cancer. It also aims to embed the foster care and adoption systems more deeply in society, as they are said to develop more slowly than in Europe and the US. The foster care and adoption systems need to be sustained not for adults who wish to have their own child but for those children in need to be raised in a more homelike environment. It is necessary to understand the legal system concerning custody and parent-child relationships, and more importantly, we must know that foster families and adoption families have different backgrounds. Child consultation centers or adoption agencies are not negative for AYA cancer survivors becoming foster or adoptive parents, but they also maintain that case-by-case decisions are essential. According to a survey conducted by the Saitama Foster Care Association, approximately 6% of either of the foster parents are cancer survivors. It is vital to provide even brief information at an early stage and, if necessary, to give leaflets and other information later. Similar measures are needed for AYA cancer survivors.
