CNN 2010-05-15

Misconception.  A stunning¹ story especially for couples having trouble having kids.  One Michigan couple learning that their frozen embryos² were gone, implanted into another woman by mistake.  They were understandably flooded by the news -- or floored by the news, rather. But there's a happy ending after a very rocky road.  They do have a new son, and they've got a new book.  "American Morning's" John Roberts joins me now for a little AM extra.  And John, you actually had a chance to talk with the Morell's, the Michigan couple, right?

Yes.  I sat down with them, Paul and Shanna Morell.  Imagine if you will, Kyra, you've been seeing a doctor for IVF treatments.  They have a couple of twin daughters because of IVF.  And the doctor calls you and says, I want you to come in and see me.  They go in to see the doctor.  The doctors says, there's been a mistake, your embryos, the frozen embryos they had stored with us have been thawed³. All right.  So, they thought maybe there was a problem with the electricity.  Everyone had lost their embryos. They were very sad about that.  And then the doctor said, and by the way, your embryos were implanted in another woman.  So, they went through weeks and weeks and weeks, and, wondering, what is this woman who's pregnant with her child going to do?  Will she abort⁴ the child? Will she carry it to term and then demand that the child be hers?

It worked out well.  They now have their own six, seven-month-old son, Logan.  But you can imagine not only what they went through but what the woman went through who was carrying the baby.  She thought that she was pregnant with her embryos and at the end had to give up the child.  I talked to Shannon and Paul about that aspect.  Here's what they say.

Did you ever have a pang⁵ of guilt⁶ where you ever thinking, oh, my goodness, maybe we should let her keep the baby?

I thought about it, and I felt guilty the whole time.  But at the same time, that was my child.

What's your relationship right now with Sean and Carol Savage⁷ (ph)?

MORELL: They're friendly.

It's like they're extended family.

Have they seen Logan?

We saw them between Christmas and New Year's when he was three months. We're working on another time when they can see him.

PHILLIPS: Wow. It's interesting how she answered you, John, when you asked about having a relationship with them, that must be kind of a difficult situation to be in.

ROBERTS: I don't know exactly what the dynamic is, but I think she did seem a little defensive⁸ when I asked her that question.  It may be because the Savages⁹, Carolyn and Sean, the couple that carried the baby to term, recently said that the last seven months have been very, very difficult for them.  They wanted to have a child.  They haven't been able to have a child since.  They don't know if they're ever going to able to have that child, but they had very, very strong religious conviction, Kyra, much the same way that the Morells did.

And that's why they decided¹⁰ that they were going to carry the baby to term, but no question.  You got to feel for a woman who thinks, wow, this is my baby and then is told, no, there's been a tragic¹¹ mistake.  She had the good grace to give the child up because there are a lot of states across the country, Michigan, New York, where surrogate parents have preponderance of rights.  They could have made a case to keep that child.

PHILLIPS: That's interesting, but also, a decision could have been made to abort that child.

ROBERTS: Sure, sure.

PHILLIPS: Hence, when you were stalking with the couple, they were praying that everybody was sort of on the same Christian¹² values with regard to life.

ROBERTS: Yeah, both couples have very strong religious connections. And the one thing that Shannon Morell said was that she wished and she prayed that Carolina Savage was a woman of God and would not abort the baby realizing that this was their last best chance to have a baby.

1 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。

2 embryos   

n.晶胚；胚，胚胎( embryo的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Somatic cells of angiosperms enter a regenerative phase and behave like embryos. 被子植物体细胞进入一个生殖阶段，而且其行为象胚。 来自辞典例句
• Evolution can explain why human embryos look like gilled fishes. 进化论能够解释为什么人类的胚胎看起来象除去了内脏的鱼一样。 来自辞典例句

3 thawed   

解冻

参考例句：

• The little girl's smile thawed the angry old man. 小姑娘的微笑使发怒的老头缓和下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He thawed after sitting at a fire for a while. 在火堆旁坐了一会儿，他觉得暖和起来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 abort   

v.使流产，堕胎；中止；中止(工作、计划等)

参考例句：

• The captain instructed them to abort the mission.上尉指示他们中止执行任务。
• With this button the user can abort the audio sequence.用户可以用该按钮终止音频序列。

5 pang   

n.剧痛，悲痛，苦闷

参考例句：

• She experienced a sharp pang of disappointment.她经历了失望的巨大痛苦。
• She was beginning to know the pang of disappointed love.她开始尝到了失恋的痛苦。

6 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

7 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

8 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

9 savages   

未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There're some savages living in the forest. 森林里居住着一些野人。
• That's an island inhabited by savages. 那是一个野蛮人居住的岛屿。

10 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

11 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

12 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。