【世间褒贬不一,生育观念重建】
比迪怀孕的消息曝光后,引发极大争议,“一石激起千层浪”还不足以形容。这段时间,变性人怀孕 生子的消息沸沸扬扬,褒贬不一。
美国俄勒冈卫生科学大学妇产科教授尼科尔斯对此表示理解:“现在家庭的定义已经发生很大变化, 不再拘泥于固定模式”。
加拿大蒙特利尔麦吉尔大学的医学、道德和法律中心创办人萨默维尔警告,这个事件是“生物现实的 崩溃……我认为我们在玩火”。他还说表示,比迪的做法破坏了生物的本质意义,他把自己变成了男人, 而他现在又成了“孕妇”。
美国独立医疗新闻网站eMaxHealth 行政总裁哈雷文说:“作为一个基督徒,我相信这是不符道德的, 他们尝试拿孩子来做实验,我觉得太过分了。如果他们想要孩子,大可从孤儿院领养一个”。 一些医学专家从生殖健康的角度担忧:比迪曾长期使用性激素,是否对胎儿的发育有影响。即使目 前健康分娩,对孩子的中长期发育是否有影响?因为大量的医学研究已证实,若父母长期使用激素,对 孩子的发育会有不良影响。 加州比华利山医疗中心妇产科医师利萨马斯特森博士说,“变性后的男子是可以怀孕的,他具备怀孕 生育的身体条件。值得注意的是,在变性男子怀孕早期不可服用任何男性激素,这样会导致所生女婴具 有男性特征”。通常女性变性为男子后会大量服用男性激素。使自己看起来更具男性的阳刚气质。
变性男子怀孕的消息在全世界引发巨大伦理争议,一些反对者甚至将之斥为“反自然行为”。但英国 医学专家克莉丝汀·伯恩斯反驳道:“这就如同说男人不能做女人的工作一样,大量变性人其实是在变性之 前生育孩子的。对于这些孩子而言,最重要的是他们得到了关爱和照顾,而非他们是否有个与众不同的 父母”。
【男性分担生育,路程相当遥远】
由于长期以来在生育上男女负担的不平等,如今时不时也会听到人们希望男性分担生育责任的呼声。 三年前,英国试管婴儿专家罗伯特.温斯顿声称,他掌握的技术已经能够让人类胚胎在男人的腹腔内健 康生长——男人当妈妈,已经不是梦。瑞典医学教授马茨.布朗斯特罗姆也认为,“男人怀孕”完全可以 做到,女性的子宫甚至可以移植到男人的体内。科学家已经在动物身上进行了数次成功的实验。
理论支加上比迪怀孕的事实,人们不禁要问,“男人怀孕”究竟离我们还有多远?
其实,比迪怀孕是基于他没有完全变性,保留了子宫等身体构造,这意味着他为自己保留了生物学 上“怀孕的权利”。他也并不是生物学意义上的男人怀孕。
尽管在理论上,男性怀孕可能性的确存在,但风险系数很高,男人甚至会因此而付出生命代价。从 生殖医学的角度来看,男人怀孕最大的困难在于受精卵没有一个良好的着床和生长环境。或者说,男人 怀孕就相当于女性腹腔妊娠,风险很大。腹腔妊娠是宫外孕的一种,发生率为三万分之一,其胎儿能够 存活的又仅占其中的2%。而母体的死亡率也很高。所以,从生物技术上来说,男人怀孕还有很长的路要 走。 【少一些评议,多一些关爱】
在人类社会中,成立家庭是男性和女性共有的愿望,但怀孕却非如此。在我们的文化中,怀孕生子 仿佛仅仅是女性专有的活动。无言而谓,变性男怀孕乃至男性怀孕,必然会导致生育观念的重建。 事实上,人类社会的起源,男性和女性的划分,在当今时代已经面临着很大的挑战。复杂而琢磨不 同的大千世界,是很难用一个标准来统一的。变性男怀孕生子,当然不是人类社会的多数,也会引发人 们的猎奇。正如比迪所说的:“在我们的医疗社区之外,人们并不知道我已有 5 个多月的身孕。但是,我 们的情况最终会有很多人知道。他们会按照他们自身的标准作出不同的评价”。由此可见。比迪已经有了 “山雨欲来风满楼”的心理准备。
其实,在社会生活中,当少数人的行为“违背”了多数人的“标准”时,往往会有一场轩然大波, 使当事人被迫陷入舆论漩涡的中心。我们有这个必要吧?当事人最需要的,是一种宁静的生活。褒也罢, 贬也罢,不如还他(她)一个清平世界。在性学领域,乃至在人类生活的各个领域,当出现一些少数人 的“异常”行为时,作为相关领域的专家学者,应该是少一些评议,多一些关爱。也许,这正是少数群 体更需要的,尽管他们已拥有有自己的权利。
附:托马斯·比迪“爱的分娩”英文全文
Labor of Love Is society ready for this pregnant husband?
By Thomas Beatie
To our neighbors, my wife, Nancy, and I don’t appear in the least unusual. To those in the quiet Oregon community where we live, we are viewed just as we are -- a happy couple deeply in love. Our desire to work hard, buy our first home, and start a family was nothing out of the ordinary. That is, until we decided that I would carry our child.
I am transgender, legally male, and legally married to Nancy. Unlike those in same-sex marriages, domestic partnerships, or civil unions, Nancy and I are afforded the more than 1,100 federal rights of marriage. Sterilization is not a requirement for sex reassignment, so I decided to have chest reconstruction and testosterone therapy but kept my reproductive rights. Wanting to have a biological child is neither a male nor female desire, but a human desire.
Ten years ago, when Nancy and I became a couple, the idea of us having a child was more dream than plan. I always wanted to have children. However, due to severe endometriosis 20 years ago, Nancy had to undergo a hysterectomy and is unable to carry a child. But after the success of our custom screen-printing business and a move from Hawaii to the Pacific Northwest two years ago, the timing finally seemed right. I stopped taking my bimonthly testosterone injections. It had been roughly eight years since I had my last menstrual cycle, so this wasn’t a decision that I took lightly. My body regulated itself after about four months, and I didn’t have to take any exogenous estrogen, progesterone, or fertility drugs to aid my pregnancy.
Our situation sparks legal, political, and social unknowns. We have only begun experiencing opposition from people who are upset by our situation. Doctors have discriminated against us, turning us away due to their religious beliefs. Health care professionals have refused to call me by a male pronoun or recognize Nancy as my wife. Receptionists have laughed at us. Friends and family have been unsupportive; most of Nancy’s family doesn’t even know I’m transgender.
This whole process, from trying to get pregnant to being pregnant, has been a challenge for us. The first doctor we approached was a reproductive endocrinologist. He was shocked by our situation and told me to shave my facial hair. After a $300 consultation, he reluctantly performed my initial checkups. He then required us to see the clinic’s psychologist to see if we were fit to bring a child into this world and consulted with the ethics board of his hospital. A few months and a couple thousand dollars later, he told us that he would no longer treat us, saying he and his staff felt uncomfortable working with “someone like me.”
In total, nine different doctors have been involved. This is why it took over one year to get access to a cryogenic sperm bank to purchase anonymous donor vials, and why Nancy and I eventually resorted to home insemination.
When I finally got pregnant for the first time, I ended up having an ectopic pregnancy with triplets. It was a life-threatening event that required surgical intervention, resulting in the loss of all embryos and my right fallopian tube. When my brother found out about my loss, he said, “It’s a good thing that happened. Who knows what kind of monster it would have been.”
On successfully getting pregnant a second time, we are proud to announce that this pregnancy is free of complications and our baby girl has a clean bill of health. We are happily awaiting her birth, with an estimated due date of July 3, 2008.
How does it feel to be a pregnant man? Incredible. Despite the fact that my belly is growing with a new life inside me, I am stable and confident being the man that I am. In a technical sense I see myself as my own surrogate, though my gender identity as male is constant. To Nancy, I am her husband carrying our child—I am so lucky to have such a loving, supportive wife. I will be my daughter’s father, and Nancy will be her mother. We will be a family.
Outside the local medical community, people don’t know I’m five months’ pregnant. But our situation ultimately will ask everyone to embrace the gamut of human possibility and to define for themselves what is normal. |