Japanese Women Can't Find OB/GYNs

In one of the world's richest countries, which boats of "universal health care," you'd think that Japanese women would get first-class OB/GYN care, but the reality is quite different.

A new survey from Japan shows that Japanese women with uterine cancers have a terrible time finding doctors who specialize in female medicine. The lack of OB/GYN services has also made having a baby in Japan a real imposition, leading to what some have called "pregnancy refugees:" those women who have to travel far and wide to get OB/GYN care.

The problem is a result of too few Japanese medical students going into the OB/GYN field, not enough women becoming doctors and a reluctance to allow foreign doctors to emigrate to Japan.

In the face of this reality, Japanese women have essentially said "no" to having children, which is creating a population implosion in Japan like none seen before.

It's no exaggeration to say that the Japanese people have abandoned procreation, and the declining Japanese birth rate is a demographic nightmare that will have unforetold economic, cultural and political repercussions in Japan.