'Pregnancy rotas' add to Japan working women's woes

The issue of "pregnancy rotas" hit the headlines earlier this year when a man wrote about his wife's experience getting pregnant "out of turn".

Tokyo (AFP) - Sayako had been trying to conceive a second child for two years when her boss at a Japanese daycare centre suggested she stop because she had missed her "turn".

Sayako, who spoke to AFP using a pseudonym, learned her boss had an unwritten policy that experts say is not uncommon in Japan: an informal "pregnancy rota" for employees.