万花筒 2009-02-05&02-07 八胞胎惹争议

We are back turning now to southern California, where a woman this week gave birth to eight children. And as the novelty of the initial news subsides¹, there are now some rather tough questions being asked. As with many health care issues these days, questions mostly have to do with the cost of fertility and the collision with fertility in cost. More now from our chief medical editor, Dr. Nancy Snyderman.

 

“They are acting² very good. They are very feisty”

 

Just days after giving birth to octuplets, their mother issued a statement, thanking the delivery team and calling the births a blessing³.

 

"My family and I are ecstatic about all of their arrivals."

 

With the arrivals a revelation, the mother already has six children ranging at ages from two to seven, including a set of twins. How she became pregnant with the octuplets is still unknown.

 

"Our patient came to us in the first trimester of pregnancy⁴ from an outside provider. Our patient was counseled regarding her options for the pregnancy. The options were to continue the pregnancy or to selectively abort⁵. The patient chose to continue the pregnancy."

 

Multiple births are rare, and for most infertility⁶ clinics, not the objective.

 

 "Our goal is to make a patient pregnant with a single embryo⁷."

 

The risks to both mother and babies in multiple births are many, and the cost?

 

Preterm and complicated births can cost up to 400,000 dollars per baby. Multiply that by eight and the cost is staggering.

 

While there are no federal regulations governing fertility treatments, there are guidelines for fertility doctors. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine says "We have a process for looking into these kind of matters and taking appropriate actions".

 

"Patients make good decisions when they have good information, so it's all our obligation and our responsibility to share this information with patients and help them make good decisions".

 

While questions and controversy⁸ continue to swirl⁹, the hospital tonight reports both mother and babies continue to do well.

 

Dr. Nancy Snyderman, NBC news, New York.

 

1 subsides   

v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的第三人称单数 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上

参考例句：

• Emotion swells and subsides. 情绪忽高忽低。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• His emotion swells and subsides. 他的情绪忽高忽低。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

3 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

4 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。

5 abort   

v.使流产，堕胎；中止；中止(工作、计划等)

参考例句：

• The captain instructed them to abort the mission.上尉指示他们中止执行任务。
• With this button the user can abort the audio sequence.用户可以用该按钮终止音频序列。

6 infertility   

n.不肥沃，不毛；不育

参考例句：

• It is the Geneva, Switzerland-based Biotech Company's second recombinant infertility drug. 它是瑞士生物技术公司在日内瓦的公司生产的第二种重组治疗不孕症的药。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术制药疫苗
• Endometritis is a cause of infertility. 子宫内膜炎是不育的原子。 来自辞典例句

7 embryo   

n.胚胎，萌芽的事物

参考例句：

• They are engaging in an embryo research.他们正在进行一项胚胎研究。
• The project was barely in embryo.该计划只是个雏形。

8 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

9 swirl   

v.(使)打漩，(使)涡卷；n.漩涡，螺旋形

参考例句：

• The car raced roughly along in a swirl of pink dust.汽车在一股粉红色尘土的漩涡中颠簸着快速前进。
• You could lie up there,watching the flakes swirl past.你可以躺在那儿，看着雪花飘飘。