美国国家公共电台 NPR--A woman reevaluates her anti-abortion rights views after adopting a child

A woman reevaluates her anti-abortion¹ rights views after adopting a child

Transcript²

A therapist in the Chicago area once wanted most abortions³ to be illegal. Adopting a child from an unwanted pregnancy⁴ changed her view.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The debate around abortion has been framed by the loudest voices on the issue, those for whom it's very clear-cut one way or the other. But for most Americans, abortion isn't that way at all.

UNIDENTIFIED MOTHER: It's just not simple. None of it's simple.

MARTIN: Over the next two days, we're going to hear from two women whose positions on abortion have changed over time because of their own personal experiences. Today, a woman who reevaluated her anti-abortion views after adopting a child from an unwanted pregnancy.

UNIDENTIFIED MOTHER: Oh, she is so sweet. She is curious about everything in the world. She's very kind and empathic. If anyone is sad or having a tough time, she's the first one to bring them their favorite stuffed animal, to give them comfort. She's beautiful.

All right, sweetie, you ready for me to do your hair?

MARTIN: When I talked to her the other day, she was braiding her adopted daughter's hair before summer camp.

UNIDENTIFIED MOTHER: Do you want braids or ponytail?

(SOUNDBITE OF CRYING)

UNIDENTIFIED MOTHER: Oh, hi, sweet boy. Hi. Hi, sweet one. Do you want ponytail or braid?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Braids.

UNIDENTIFIED MOTHER: Braids? OK, do you want - that's OK. Do you want one braid or two?

MARTIN: We're granting her and her kids anonymity⁵ to talk freely about intimate details of their family's experience. She's a therapist in Chicago, a devout⁶ Christian⁷ and the mother of four kids. She and her husband struggled for years to get pregnant naturally. Infertility⁸ treatments weren't a good option because of her diabetes⁹. They started to look at adoption¹⁰, but the process was too lengthy¹¹, too expensive. Then surprise news - she was pregnant. And then another surprise, this one in the form of a text message. It was from a former co-worker's daughter.

UNIDENTIFIED MOTHER: The text said, my mother had mentioned that you all were looking into adoption. Is that still true? I'm wondering if you would adopt my baby. This mother - birth mother was probably in a really tough spot. And, you know, we'd always wanted to do adoption. So I felt this excitement of, oh, like, she's needing this. And we've always dreamt of doing this, and the timing¹² feels crazy. But I called my husband in from the other room, showed him the text. And his eyes just lit up, like, the same way they lit up when I told him I was pregnant.

MARTIN: She and her husband got to be in the hospital when the baby was born. And because she had just given birth herself, our therapist could actually breastfeed her new adopted baby. They all spent the next few days getting to know each other.

UNIDENTIFIED MOTHER: It was very, very sweet time. We looked at photos on the computer of when the birth mother was a little girl and just spent time together chatting. And at the end of that, the birth mother said, You know, I think I'd like to do visits. Would you guys be able to come back later this year for a visit? And we said, absolutely. And so we've done visits now at least once a year.

MARTIN: But as stable as all that is, the whole adoption process has forced her to rethink what had been pretty rigid¹³ views against abortion.

UNIDENTIFIED MOTHER: Ten years ago, my perspective was really simple. I thought, hey, there's houses where women could go where they would be taken care of while they're pregnant. There's options if they want to keep their baby to have that support. You know, and if they don't want to do that, there's adoption. And so I felt like, I believe life begins at conception. And I believe that it's best for the woman to complete the pregnancy cycle, if they terminate a pregnancy early, that that is not in the best interest of their physical and emotional health. My experience of adoption has changed my views. You know, when I stood there in the hospital, there was one moment where the birth mother handed her into my arms. And I had just given birth three weeks earlier. And I was very aware that what was happening in that moment was heartbreaking. There was beauty in it, but there was nothing simple about it.

MARTIN: So she now believes adoption isn't at all the easy solution to an unwanted pregnancy. But the Supreme¹⁴ Court's decision to overturn Roe¹⁵ v. Wade¹⁶ has pushed her even further away from the anti-abortion views she once held. I called her back yesterday.

Thank you for being willing to get back on the line with me. How are you doing?

UNIDENTIFIED MOTHER: I think there's been a lot of disbelief and a lot of tears. I feel like throughout the weekend, I'll have these grief waves for different populations and different reasons.

MARTIN: Explain that - because you were someone not too many years ago who described herself as pro-life, as anti-abortion.

UNIDENTIFIED MOTHER: Mmm hmm. Yeah. I think many years ago, I would have thought this was a victory. And I'm just deeply grieved. I mean, I feel the grief for just women in general right now who are feeling retraumatized by the government and just as I think about how many women are in difficult situations where they don't have a lot of supports around them.

MARTIN: Do you still consider yourself pro-life?

UNIDENTIFIED MOTHER: Yeah, you know, it's so - I wish that there were not these, like, pro-life or pro-choice camps. I feel like it depends on how you define pro-life. And I still think life begins at conception. But I wish I could name a third option that wasn't just pro-life or pro-choice because I feel like it's so complicated. And the needs are so complicated, and our society is so far from being able to meet those needs that I don't know how to answer, which I guess just shows the spot of ambiguity¹⁷ that I'm in.

MARTIN: But she is clear-eyed about the consequences of the court's decision. She says there aren't nearly enough social services to care for the people who will now be forced to carry their pregnancies¹⁸ to term - noi paid work leave to recover, not to mention the time and money required to take care of the children themselves.

UNIDENTIFIED MOTHER: I'm angry at the government and the church for failing to provide those supports and to come together. I'm scared they're going to continue to neglect the needs of these vulnerable populations. So yeah, it is a lot. There's so many layers. I know I've been grieving a lot. I believe that I have felt Jesus grieving with me. I'm just sort of desperately¹⁹ hoping things will change, not just because of the law but because people will take all of this more seriously and begin to actually put their time and their energy and their actions towards loving.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 abortions   

n.小产( abortion的名词复数 )；小产胎儿；（计划）等中止或夭折；败育

参考例句：

• The Venerable Master: By not having abortions, by not killing living beings. 上人：不堕胎、不杀生。 来自互联网
• Conclusion Chromosome abnormality is one of the causes of spontaneous abortions. 结论：染色体异常是导致反复自然流产的原因之一。 来自互联网

4 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

5 anonymity   

n.the condition of being anonymous

参考例句：

• Names of people in the book were changed to preserve anonymity. 为了姓名保密，书中的人用的都是化名。
• Our company promises to preserve the anonymity of all its clients. 我们公司承诺不公开客户的姓名。

6 devout   

adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness)

参考例句：

• His devout Catholicism appeals to ordinary people.他对天主教的虔诚信仰感染了普通民众。
• The devout man prayed daily.那位虔诚的男士每天都祈祷。

7 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。

8 infertility   

n.不肥沃，不毛；不育

参考例句：

• It is the Geneva, Switzerland-based Biotech Company's second recombinant infertility drug. 它是瑞士生物技术公司在日内瓦的公司生产的第二种重组治疗不孕症的药。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术制药疫苗
• Endometritis is a cause of infertility. 子宫内膜炎是不育的原子。 来自辞典例句

9 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

10 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

11 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

12 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

13 rigid   

adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的

参考例句：

• She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
• The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严，几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。

14 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

15 roe   

n.鱼卵；獐鹿

参考例句：

• We will serve smoked cod's roe at the dinner.宴会上我们将上一道熏鳕鱼子。
• I'll scramble some eggs with roe?我用鱼籽炒几个鸡蛋好吗？

16 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

17 ambiguity   

n.模棱两可；意义不明确

参考例句：

• The telegram was misunderstood because of its ambiguity.由于电文意义不明确而造成了误解。
• Her answer was above all ambiguity.她的回答毫不含糊。

18 pregnancies   

怀孕，妊娠( pregnancy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Since the wartime population needed replenishment, pregnancies were a good sign. 最后一桩倒不失为好现象，战时人口正该补充。
• She's had three pregnancies in four years. 她在四年中怀孕叁次。

19 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。