财经金融新闻 中国儿童收养困境

An uncomfortable truth lingers in the wake of the recent suspension of the baby hatch program in Guangzhou,

随着近期广州婴儿岛的停运，一个让人难以接受的事实在人们心头挥之不去，

namely that the 262 children who were abandoned in the six weeks before its close

在婴儿岛关闭之前，有262名儿童遭到遗弃，

who all suffer some sort of illness, disease or birth defect are the luckier ones.

这些儿童都受到了先天性畸形、疾病等困扰。

They are lucky, firstly, to be in an orphanage¹, in a country where orphanages² are stretched for resources or do not exist in many regions at all.

首先，他们是幸运的，他们生活在孤儿院中，孤儿院利用资源，所以它在许多地区并不常见。

Being in one, the children may have the opportunity to be adopted by domestic Chinese citizens or foreigners.

生活在这里的儿童很有可能会得到国内市民，或是外国人的收养。

However, this will likely be a long wait.

但是，等待的时间可能会很长。

Strict requirements for prospective³ adopters of Chinese children

国家对收养中国儿童的收养人有着严格的要求，

include proof of marriage for at least two years and that the couple show they aren't overweight.

包括结婚2年以上，夫妻不能超重等。

The focus, moreover, is on adopting healthy children, who are becoming the minority in China's orphanages as the One-Child policy is relaxed.

此外，重点是收养健康儿童，随着计划生育政策的放宽，人们很难在孤儿院中找到健康儿童。

While the waiting list for special-needs children is much shorter,

然而，人们对收养需要特殊照料儿童的等待却很短，

it is often a longer, more costly⁴ process of selection and screening before a suitable family is found, assuming the adoption⁵ program is ethical⁶.

在找到合适家庭之前，人们需要进行一番费时，费钱的选择工作，并能够证明收养是符合道德的。

A lack of a unified⁷ welfare system means that China's system for helping⁸ the sick and disabled,

由于缺乏统一的福利体系，

which relies on a combination of NGOs is piecemeal⁹ at best

这就意味着帮助那些伤残儿童的重担就落在了非营利组织的肩上，

and as China's orphanages fill up with predominantly sick and disabled children,

中国孤儿院中有大量伤残儿童，

gaining access and support for their medical needs becomes an increasingly dire¹⁰ issue.

为他们寻求医疗求助也就愈加成为了一大棘手问题。

It is often the prohibitive cost of medical care that led many struggling parents to leave their child in the first place,

通常都是一些防护性的医疗经费就已经让父母将他们抛弃，

harboring the desperate hope their children would live a little longer under the care of the orphanage rather than face the certainty of death at home.

儿童希望能够在孤儿院多留一段时间，而不是回到家等待死亡。

If they are very lucky, the disabled orphans¹¹ may be admitted into the schoolyard,

如果他们非常幸运的话，那些残疾儿童将很有可能进入校园，

most likely into a special education school, as ordinary schools often prove inadequate¹² to accommodate students' needs or shut their gates completely.

之后进入一所特殊教育学校，这是因为许多正常生学校都会认为自己不能给学生提供特殊的照顾，并把他们完全拒之门外。

Already, they would have beat the 40 percent of disabled Chinese who are illiterate¹³

中国有40%的残疾人是文盲，

and the 28 percent of disabled school aged¹⁴ children denied access to any education,

有28%的上学年龄儿童没有得到任何教育，

according to a 2013 Report from the China Disabled Person's Federation¹⁵.

这是中国残疾人联合会在2013年发布的报告。

On graduation, they may have access to a handful of career paths, most commonly massage¹⁶ or music,

毕业之后，他们有可能接触到更多的工作，较为常见的有按摩，音乐，

and hope for the small chance that they will find employment.

他们还会希望找到工作。

Even government departments only have, at best, 0.39 percent of their workforce¹⁷ comprised of employees with disabilities,

政府部门也最多拥有过0.39%的残疾人比例，

according to the Beijing Yirenping Center.

这是北京益仁平中心的报告。

There is no telling what future awaits the children who now call Guangzhou Social Welfare Institute home,

没有人知道这些在广州福利院的孩子们将来的命运会怎样，

except that they will likely continue to face an uphill battle for the rest of their lives.

他们将来很有可能面临着重重阻碍。

For Caixin Online, this is Christina Guo

这是克里斯蒂娜·曹为您带来的财新网报道。

1 orphanage   

n.孤儿院

参考例句：

• They dispensed new clothes to the children in the orphanage.他们把新衣服发给孤儿院的小孩们。
• They gave the proceeds of the sale to the orphanage.他们把销售的收入给了这家孤儿院。

2 orphanages   

孤儿院( orphanage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It is Rotarians running orphanages for children who have no homes. 扶轮社员们为没有家的孩子办孤儿院。
• Through the years, she built churches, hospitals and orphanages. 许多年来，她盖了一间间的教堂、医院、育幼院。

3 prospective   

adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的

参考例句：

• The story should act as a warning to other prospective buyers.这篇报道应该对其他潜在的购买者起到警示作用。
• They have all these great activities for prospective freshmen.这会举办各种各样的活动来招待未来的新人。

4 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

5 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。

6 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。

7 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

8 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

9 piecemeal   

adj.零碎的；n.片，块；adv.逐渐地；v.弄成碎块

参考例句：

• A lack of narrative drive leaves the reader with piecemeal vignettes.叙述缺乏吸引力，读者读到的只是一些支离破碎的片段。
• Let's settle the matter at one stroke,not piecemeal.把这事一气儿解决了吧，别零敲碎打了。

10 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

11 orphans   

孤儿( orphan的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The poor orphans were kept on short commons. 贫苦的孤儿们吃不饱饭。
• Their uncle was declared guardian to the orphans. 这些孤儿的叔父成为他们的监护人。

12 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

13 illiterate   

adj.文盲的；无知的；n.文盲

参考例句：

• There are still many illiterate people in our country.在我国还有许多文盲。
• I was an illiterate in the old society,but now I can read.我这个旧社会的文盲，今天也认字了。

14 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

15 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

16 massage   

n.按摩，揉；vt.按摩，揉，美化，奉承，篡改数据

参考例句：

• He is really quite skilled in doing massage.他的按摩技术确实不错。
• Massage helps relieve the tension in one's muscles.按摩可使僵硬的肌肉松弛。

17 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。