VOA慢速英语2014 泰国试图禁止商业代孕

 

AS IT IS 2014-10-13 Thailand Seeks to Ban Commercial Surrogacy 泰国试图禁止商业代孕

Thailand is campaigning against commercial surrogacy, one of the world’s most unregulated industries. In this industry, infertile¹ foreign couples pay Thai women to bear children. Experts report that the market is growing. They say the business produces hundreds of millions of dollars a year. 

Over the past several months, Thailand has been an uncontrolled base for overseas surrogacy. Childless men and women from around the world use agencies based in Thailand that advertise for surrogates over the Internet. 

Some seek local Thai doctors who will create embryos³ from donors⁴ or from a person who wants to become a parent. The embryos are then implanted in young Thai women. These women become paid surrogates. They offer their wombs to carry the babies until they are born.

But in August, police reportedly stopped two same-sex Australian couples and two American couples at a Bangkok airport. The couples were prevented from leaving the country with surrogate babies born to Thai women. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation made the report.

Now, Thailand’s government is proposing new legislation to ban surrogacy for money. The leader of the military government says bad publicity⁶ about surrogacy has led to criticism of the country. 

Dr. Somsak Lolekha is chairman of the Medical Council of Thailand. He told VOA the proposed legislation will have an immediate⁷ effect. 

“Most doctors stopped doing this because they worry. It’s not clear whether they will be put in jail -- or not -- as a criminal. We have to discuss with the government when they pass a law. It’s our duty to help the infertile people to have kids.”

Under Thai medical regulations, surrogate mothers are paid only for their expenses. Also, the mother should be a relative of one of the possible parents. Still, medical officials say current medical rules permit surrogacy by a woman unrelated to the genetic⁸ parents on a case-by-case basis. 

Rarinthip Sirorat is director-general of Thailand’s Office of Prevention and Protection of Children, Youth, Elderly and Vulnerable Groups. She says foreign couples thinking of using Thai surrogate mothers should not do so.

“(It) has to be the relatives of the intended parents. So it is impossible for the foreign couples to have something like a close relative in Thailand.”

The proposed law calls for the surrogate mother to be a relative or a member of the family of the couple seeking to have a child. No surrogacy by artificial insemination would be permitted for same-sex couples or those who are not married.

Some key government officials are calling for a careful study among interest groups before a new law is passed.

Dr. Somsak Lolekha says if the legislation is put on a fast track, it will affect the future of thousands of babies now carried for foreigners by Thai surrogates.

“For those already pregnant, I think we have to help them for the sake of the baby. We have to do everything to help the child. They should go back to their genetic parents or their intended parents. And I think we have to try to help them so the parents can get their baby back to their home.”

Caspar Peek⁹ is the U.N. Population Fund’s representative in Thailand. He says legislation should protect the rights of the child, in his words, “first and foremost.” Mr. Peek also said legislation should protect the surrogate mother. And he said the law should protect the people who want to be parents whose genetic material -- or DNA¹⁰ -- is being used.

“(Because) once it becomes commercial then the motivations of women to accept this (commercial surrogacy) will change. You may get the wrong people into this; you may get very young girls, you may get very poor women, you may get women who are undernourished and of course that creates a risk to their health as well. And of course there are people who will make money on this -- and then it’s all not aboveboard anymore.”

Mr. Peek added that things also become involved and complicated when contracts -- legal agreements -- are involved.

“Contracts are often not enforceable. If you were to take a child out of Thailand, that is born by a surrogate mother without all the paperwork in order, and you will take this child into Australia or to New Zealand or any other country it’s highly probable that the authorities in your home country will not accept this child.”

International surrogacy grew in Thailand after India banned such services for same-sex couples last year. India also required that a man and woman be married for at least two years before trying to get a child through the surrogacy industry. 

Words in this Story 

surrogate - n. a woman who agrees to become pregnant in order to give the baby to someone who cannot have children   

embryo² – n. a human or animal in the early stages of development before it is born

implant⁵ – v. to put something in a specified¹¹ place                      

artificial insemination – n. a medical process in which semen is used to make a woman or female animal pregnant without sexual intercourse¹².

fast track – n. a process or way of proceeding that produces a desired result quickly

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 embryo   

n.胚胎，萌芽的事物

参考例句：

• They are engaging in an embryo research.他们正在进行一项胚胎研究。
• The project was barely in embryo.该计划只是个雏形。

3 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

4 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》

5 implant   

vt.注入，植入，灌输

参考例句：

• A good teacher should implant high ideals in children.好教师应该把高尚理想灌输给孩子们。
• The operation to implant the artificial heart took two hours.人工心脏植入手术花费了两小时。

6 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

7 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

8 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

9 peek   

vi.偷看，窥视；n.偷偷的一看，一瞥

参考例句：

• Larry takes a peek out of the window.赖瑞往窗外偷看了一下。
• Cover your eyes and don't peek.捂上眼睛，别偷看。

10 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。

11 specified   

adj.特定的

参考例句：

• The architect specified oak for the wood trim. 那位建筑师指定用橡木做木饰条。
• It is generated by some specified means. 这是由某些未加说明的方法产生的。

12 intercourse   

n.性交；交流，交往，交际

参考例句：

• The magazine becomes a cultural medium of intercourse between the two peoples.该杂志成为两民族间文化交流的媒介。
• There was close intercourse between them.他们过往很密。