A surrogate mother is a woman who carries a child, usually for an infertile

游客2023-11-26  17

问题     A surrogate mother is a woman who carries a child, usually for an infertile couple. There are two types of surrogacy, traditional and gestational. The traditional type of surrogacy involves the surrogate mother being inseminated with the sperm of the intended father. In gestational surrogacy, eggs and sperm are extracted from the donors and implanted into the surrogate. Despite of its benefits, surrogacy is only legalized in few states, like the US and India. The following article illustrates the reason of banning surrogacy in France.
    Write an article of NO LESS THAN 800 words, in which you should:
    1. summarize the article briefly, and then
    2. express your opinion towards surrogacy, especially whether it should be legalized.
    Why Has France Banned Surrogate Motherhood?
    Shortly after it emerged in the 1980s, surrogate motherhood was dealt a severe blow in France by a decision of its highest civil court. In 1991, it ruled that an agreement entered into by a woman to conceive, bear a child, and relinquish it at birth, albeit for benign reasons, was contrary to the public policy principle of unavailability of both the human body and civil status. This prohibition was confirmed in the Bioethics Act of 1994.
    In the last few years the issue of legalizing gestational surrogacy has resurfaced for many reasons. First of all, there is growing demand for autonomy, particularly with regards to individual life choices. There is also a persistent specific demand from women whose infertility is related to congenital malformation, cancer surgery, postpartum hemorrhage, or exposure to Distilbene. Last but not least, people can turn to international surrogacy in the United States or in countries such as Ukraine and India where specialized clinics operate for foreigners.
    Today, however, the prohibition of surrogate motherhood is still supported by a majority of French citizens. It is justified by ethical concerns regarding the child, the surrogate mother, and society as a whole. Firstly, children may be psychologically at risk in such transactions. Ignoring or denying the effects of pregnancy and the mother-child relationship on the child’s future could well be damaging for him or her as well as for the intended parents; and children could become commodities traded as merchandise between surrogate mothers and infertile couples.
    Secondly, even aside from the physical risks of pregnancy, the gestational mother is exposed to two dangers: becoming attached to the child and suffering from the separation after birth, since she knows that, for her, childbirth will mean an end rather than a beginning. France is also concerned about the fact that there is an inherent social division in this practice: surrogate mothers are usually from lower economic backgrounds and can be economically exploited in this transaction.
    Thirdly, surrogacy could threaten the symbolic image of women and the principle of human dignity that enjoys constitutional recognition. In France, dignity is often regarded as an obligation that individuals owe themselves to remain worthy of their human condition. Individuals are free to decide what constitutes their own dignity provided the dignity of others is not harmed.
    While it is highly plausible that some surrogates are acting entirely of their own free will, it is still wrong for society to accept a form of alienation, however voluntary.

选项

答案             Surrogacy Should Be Legalized
    General public have been for years pondering the pros and cons of surrogate motherhood without reaching any definite conclusion until now. France has banned surrogacy because the government contend surrogate mothers will suffer from both ethic and psychological harm when the baby is transferred to the couple. Besides, it also believes that most surrogate mothers come from lower economic backgrounds and might be taken advantage of in this transaction. Yet, supporters of making surrogacy legal believe that this offers an opportunity for infertile women whose life might be put in danger by pregnancy. They deserve no less the right to have their own children than normal couples, so surrogacy will ensure such equality.
    As for me, I stand for legalizing surrogacy based on the ground that a legislation will ensure the right of those in need and make surrogacy more regulated. Due to the difference in legislation on surrogacy, people can always go to countries where surrogacy is legal and find a surrogate mother there, causing more social concerns on immigration, national identity etc. Therefore, banning it is not a solution as people who are actually in need of it will always take other routes which might give rise to more problems. By legalizing surrogacy, there will be improvement in at least three aspects: firstly, transborder surrogacy can be prohibited, avoiding nationality and immigration-related issues; secondly, a fair, safe and scrutinized surrogacy platform can be established, thus ensuring the rights of both the surrogate mother and the couple; thirdly, legalizing surrogacy would give the government more accurate data on the demography of the country, guaranteeing more grounded population-related policies.
    This conduct is much like legalizing adoption by providing a fair and confidential system for it. The adoption system functions well and I believe a similar surrogacy system will bring good results as well, but the first step, is to legalize surrogacy.

解析     材料介绍代孕产业在法国遭到禁止的原因。
    第一段介绍了“代孕妈妈”的背景情况,虽然早在八十年代就已经出现,但由于违反相关的法律原则(contrary to the public policy principle),法国已于1994年明确禁止。
    最近几年“代孕妈妈”又再次浮出水面(resurfaced)。理由如下,第一,人们的自主需求增加,这被看做是个人的人生选择(individual life choices);第二,对于有特殊疾病而不能怀孕的妇女(infertility)而言,这种办法尤为重要;第三,人们也会到别的国家寻求海外代孕(international surrogacy)。
    然而,大多数法国人仍反对“代孕妈妈”。第一,孩子成为了这场交易中的商品(merchandise),可能会遭受心理创伤(psychologically at risk);第二,代孕妈妈也会遭受两方面的伤害。一是生产完就要忍受与孩子分别之痛(separation after birth),二是她们的社会地位较低,在经济上容易被剥削。第三,代孕将有损女性的光辉形象(symbolic image of women)以及人类的尊严(human dignity)。
    开篇:总结材料,概括材料中法国禁止“代孕妈妈”的理由。
    主体:提出自己的观点——支持代孕合法化。并从多方面具体阐释理由。
    结尾:总结全文,通过类比的方法结尾,如文中将代孕与领养对比,认为合法化代孕将有利于监管和保护双方利益。
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