英語流行話題閱讀:語境識詞3500 Unit 71 尋找代孕母親

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Unit 71

Finding a Surrogate Mother, Is It a Good Choice?

Surrogacy -- having another woman bear a child for you -- is an emotionally intense and legally complex arrangement. The process can require vast amounts of time, money, and patience to succeed. However, more and more couples are considering surrogacy as a way of having their child. Despite some "disaster stories" in the media, it is an arrangement that can bring joy to all concerned -- as long as all the medical, legal, financial and emotional aspects are thought through beforehand.

-- How does it work?

Couples most often choose surrogacy when the woman is infertile and treatments have failed, when a woman is unable to carry a child herself because of abnormalities in her uterus. A surrogate mother typically conceives after being artificially inseminated with the man's sperm. She then goes on to carry the baby. When the child is born, the surrogate mother gives the baby to the couple and stops her parental rights. The father's partner can then apply to adopt the baby legally. It is also possible for a surrogate to carry a donated embryo to term. Surrogate arrangements are usually set up through agencies although private arrangements exist. The couple is typically heavily involved in the pregnancy and the surrogate will remain a part of the baby's life after birth. In both situations, the infertile couple usually pays the surrogate mother's expenses along with additional legal and agency fees if a contract is involved. Surrogacy is legal in the UK. However, it is illegal to advertise for a surrogate or for a surrogate to advertise. Once the baby is born, the intended parents will need to establish their legal parentage otherwise the baby will be registered as the child of the birth mother -- the surrogate.

-- The advantages and disadvantages

For a woman who can't conceive, surrogacy creates a chance for her and her partner to parent a child who is their genetic children at least partially (if tey use the father's sperm and the surrogate's egg) or completely (if they ask the surrogate co carry an embryo created from the mother's egg and the father's sperm). If they set up an open arrangement, the couple can be deeply involved in all the details of their baby's gestation and may be there for the birth of their baby.

In addition to its complicated procedures, surrogacy is highly controversial and can be legally complex. Some surrogates also face difficult emotional and psychological problems over letting the baby go. The infertile couple not only experience the usually anxiety of waiting for a pregnancy to reach full-term safely but also worry about legal trouble, the ethics of "buying" a child and the possibility that the surrogate will change her mind.