'Pregnancy rotas' add to working women woes

Issue highlights challenge of Japan's shrinking population, gender roles

TOKYO - Sayako had been trying to conceive a second child for two years when her boss at a Japanese day care center suggested she stop because she had missed her "turn".

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