2006年VOA标准英语-Egg Donor Business Booming on College Campuses

By Mil Arcega
Washington, D.C.
13 June 2006
 
Watch Fertility Report

Egg fertilization in a laboratory  
  
Last year, infertile¹ couples in the U.S. spent nearly $3 billion to improve their chances of having babies. They also paid out more than $38 million for egg donations, a procedure that's become both popular and controversial as fertility clinics and brokers² bid for the best and brightest egg donors³.

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Colleges offer some of the best gene⁴ pools for infertile couples looking for smart young women willing to donate their eggs. And ads, found in many college newspapers, can speed the search by offering cash-strapped students thousands of dollars, "for a few good eggs."

 
Carrie Sprecht
  
Carrie Specht answered one of the ads eight years ago when she was a struggling student at New York University. "I'm not going to kid anybody; the dollar signs were there first and foremost." Because it's illegal to sell body parts in the U.S., the money is considered a fee for a woman's time and inconvenience.

Professor Deborah Spar, author of the "Baby Business", a book that looks at the economics of conception, says any way you look at it, it's still a cash transaction. "They are not donating eggs -- in most cases, they are selling them. Yes, it's a miraculous⁵ science, but there's also commerce."

 
Deborah Spar 
  
It's a profitable bit of commerce for donors with high demand characteristics such as top academic scores, athletic⁶ ability and good looks.

Carrie wound up donating four times, using some of the money to start a film company, which she aptly named Zygot Films. "I do know there are at least three children out there that are carrying my DNA⁷," she says. "I like it a lot, I like the idea that I have longevity⁸."

Shannon Clark  
  
Not everyone feels the same way. Shannon Clark was a college sophomore⁹ when she donated an egg to a relative. Now ten years later and pregnant with her first child, she has regret.

"As I grow older and more mature and started to have maternal¹⁰ instincts and feelings of my own," she says, "I realized, wow, this wasn't just DNA, this was my child, I gave to my aunt."

Industry watchdogs say there's currently very little government oversight¹¹ on the fertility industry and even fewer rules on egg donations, such as how many times a woman can donate or how much she should be paid. Deborah Spar wants a debate on the medical and ethical questions surrounding egg donations - a procedure that doctors say involves weeks of hormone injections and a small risk of long-term health problems

1 infertile   

adj.不孕的；不肥沃的，贫瘠的

参考例句：

• Plants can't grow well in the infertile land.在贫瘠的土地上庄稼长不好。
• Nobody is willing to till this infertile land.这块薄田没有人愿意耕种。

2 brokers   

n.（股票、外币等）经纪人( broker的名词复数 )；中间人；代理商；（订合同的）中人v.做掮客（或中人等）( broker的第三人称单数 )；作为权力经纪人进行谈判；以中间人等身份安排…

参考例句：

• The firm in question was Alsbery & Co., whiskey brokers. 那家公司叫阿尔斯伯里公司，经销威士忌。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• From time to time a telephone would ring in the brokers' offices. 那两排经纪人房间里不时响着叮令的电话。 来自子夜部分

3 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

5 miraculous   

adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的

参考例句：

• The wounded man made a miraculous recovery.伤员奇迹般地痊愈了。
• They won a miraculous victory over much stronger enemy.他们战胜了远比自己强大的敌人，赢得了非凡的胜利。

6 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

7 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

8 longevity   

n.长命；长寿

参考例句：

• Good habits promote longevity.良好的习惯能增长寿命。
• Human longevity runs in families.人类的长寿具有家族遗传性。

9 sophomore   

n.大学二年级生；adj.第二年的

参考例句：

• He is in his sophomore year.他在读二年级。
• I'm a college sophomore majoring in English.我是一名英语专业的大二学生。

10 maternal   

adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的

参考例句：

• He is my maternal uncle.他是我舅舅。
• The sight of the hopeless little boy aroused her maternal instincts.那个绝望的小男孩的模样唤起了她的母性。

11 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。