英闻天下——548 Black Surrogacy Market in China

 　　In Shanghai, official statistics show that the annual number of babies born after parents use in-vitro fertilization or IVF exceeded 20,000 in 2011. But hospitals are far from able to satisfy demand, forcing many infertile¹ couples to hire women to have children for them illegally.

 

　　The huge demand boosted the underground surrogacy market. In cities like Dongguan and Shenzhen, in southern China's Guangdong Province, the black surrogacy black market is active.

 

　　The cost of a whole set of surrogacy process may be up to 850 thousand yuan, and is still rising.

 

　　Di Guozeng, member of China Law Society says, the act of surrogacy is totally illegal.

 

　　"Surrogacy is actually borrowing a woman's womb to give birth to a baby. It's renting a woman's womb and making a profit from it. It's unethical because people and people's organ can't be used for trade. That's why currently China's law forbids surrogacy. So no matter whether the parties involved signed a contract or not, this civil act is invalid² and won't be protected by law."

 

　　In fact, the surrogate pregnancy³ poses great threat to surrogate mother's health. Their health and economic interest is not protected by the law.

 

　　Some people say that the country should regulate the non-commercial surrogacy market, and give a chance for those couples who can't give birth to a child. But many experts in health and law still believe any form of surrogacy should be totally banned.

 

　　It's going to make simple relationships far more complicated. It even leads to the redefinition of "parent" in law. For instance, who should be the child's parents, the donor⁴, the mom who conceives the baby or the parents in the contract or the genetic⁵ parent? It involves many parties. Di Guozeng says that disputes about the actual parent may cause a series of problems such as inheritance.

 

　　"After the baby is born, if the entrusting⁶ party doesn't want the kid, it's very possible the baby will be raised by the surrogate mother. One possibility is the surrogate mother will encounter health problems during the pregnancy and it's hard for the surrogate mother to get compensation. As for the entrusting party, if the surrogate mother refuses to give the baby to the parents in the so-called contract, then, the parents in the contract, first, they won't get their baby, plus, they need to shoulder the expenses of raising the baby."

 

　　There are some European countries in which surrogacy is legal. In the UK, surrogacy is legal but the law stipulates⁷ that any form of commercial surrogacy is prohibited. Also in the US, some female college students pay their debt or the tuition by providing eggs. In India, Thailand and some European countries commercial surrogacy is also legal but Qiao Jie director member of Chinese Society of Reproductive Medicine of Chinese Medical Association says the laws are made based on each country's own situation.

 

　　"All these are made on the characteristics of their countries and citizens situation and the possible consequences to their society. So, surrogacy is the most complicated part in the supplementary⁸ reproductive technology."

 

　　In 2001, the Ministry⁹ of Health, or MOH, issued a regulation stipulating¹⁰ that any practice of using a surrogate mother is strictly¹¹ banned.

 

　　Recently, the MOH has collected experts' opinions on surrogacy. One expert said it would take at least five to 10 years for surrogacy to be legalized in China. Then some media misinterpreted the issue and reported that surrogacy would be legalized in China in five to 10 years. So the ministry reiterated¹² that surrogate motherhood remains¹³ banned in China and it would step up its control over Assisted Reproductive Technology.

 

　　For CRI, I am Li Dong.

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 invalid   

n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的

参考例句：

• He will visit an invalid.他将要去看望一个病人。
• A passport that is out of date is invalid.护照过期是无效的。

3 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。

4 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

5 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。

6 entrusting   

v.委托，托付( entrust的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• St. Clare had just been entrusting Tom with some money, and various commissions. 圣？克莱亚刚交给汤姆一笔钱，派他去办几件事情。 来自辞典例句
• The volume of business does not warrant entrusting you with exclusive agency at present. 已完成的营业额还不足以使我方目前委托你方独家代理。 来自外贸英语口语25天快训

7 stipulates   

n.（尤指在协议或建议中）规定，约定，讲明（条件等）( stipulate的名词复数 )；规定，明确要求v.（尤指在协议或建议中）规定，约定，讲明（条件等）( stipulate的第三人称单数 )；规定，明确要求

参考例句：

• The trade contract stipulates for the settlement of balances in RMB. 贸易合同规定余额以人民币结算。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The contract stipulates for the use of seasoned timber. 合同上订明用干透的木料。 来自辞典例句

8 supplementary   

adj.补充的，附加的

参考例句：

• There is a supplementary water supply in case the rain supply fails.万一主水源断了，我们另外有供水的地方。
• A supplementary volume has been published containing the index.附有索引的增补卷已经出版。

9 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

10 stipulating   

v.（尤指在协议或建议中）规定，约定，讲明（条件等）( stipulate的现在分词 )；规定，明确要求

参考例句：

• Shall we first sign a barter trade agreement stipulating the general terms and conditions? 我们先签一个易货贸易协议，规定一般性条款，行吗？ 来自互联网
• The other firm are stipulating for and early exchange of information regarding the contract. 作为协议条件，另一家公司坚持要求早日交换有关合同的信息。 来自互联网

11 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

12 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

13 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。