NATION IN BRIEF : NEW YORK : Japanese Seek U.S. Surrogate Mothers

Infertile Japanese couples are hiring Asian-American women to bear their children, paying as much as $45,000, a lawyer who arranges the surrogate mother deals said. “We’re dealing with a substantial number of Japanese couples that are coming to this country to have children,” said Noel Keane, a lawyer who heads the Infertility Center of New York. Keane, whose center also has offices in Indianapolis and Larkspur, Calif., said most of the Japanese seeking surrogates prefer Asian-Americans because in Japan, children of mixed blood may be looked upon with disdain.