2007年VOA标准英语-First Uterus Transplant in US Being Planned

By Carol Pearson
Washington, DC
17 January 2007
 
watch Uterus Transplant report

A New York hospital is taking initial steps to offer the first uterus transplant in the United States. Doctors in Saudi Arabia performed the procedure a few years ago but had to remove the transplanted uterus three months later because of blood clots¹. Now a doctor in New York says the time is right to try again. VOA's Carol Pearson reports on the procedure and the controversy² surrounding it.

At New York's Downtown Hospital, doctors are preparing for their first attempt to transplant a uterus. The procedure would go like this: 

Surgeons would transplant a donated uterus into the recipient³ through an incision⁴ just below the navel.

 
Uterus transfer from a donor⁵ to recipient

The recipient's frozen embryo⁶ would then be transferred into her new womb.

She would give birth by Caesarian section. And then, the donated uterus would be removed so the woman would no longer have to take anti-rejection drugs.
 

 

The procedure raises many ethical⁷ and medical concerns. Fertility specialist Dr. Sherman Silber explains, "At any time during the nine months of pregnancy⁸ it could very easily reject.  And if a pregnant uterus rejects, you've got a serious medical problem."

Simply put, the mother's life, and that of her fetus⁹, would be in danger.

New York Downtown Hospital says doctors will first attempt the procedure on primates¹⁰ in the next three months before any attempt is made on women.

Dr. Giuseppe Del Priore is interviewing possible candidates. "We've spent ten years and thousands and thousands of hours trying to make this as safe as possible.  We take it very seriously.  And the person who is eventually going to be the first candidate has to have a tremendous understanding of that risk."

Those risks raise ethical questions. Many ethicists say the very reason for a transplant is to save lives, not to put someone's life in danger.

Lori Andrews from the Chicago-Kent College of Law compare the need for such a transplant to a kidney transplant, for example. "We give kidney transplants to people who would die otherwise, and we do that because transplants are very risky¹¹."

But transplants are also done to improve the quality of life.  Face transplants have improved the lives of people in France and China.  Hand transplants are becoming more common. Women who are unable to have children because of cancer or other disorders¹² say a uterine transplant gives them hope that one day they will have the chance to love and nurture¹³ a baby that came from their own womb.

Cancer survivor¹⁴ Judy Brunstein says she would consider it. "The chance that I could have carried my own child would have been such a gift."

1 clots   

n.凝块( clot的名词复数 )；血块；蠢人；傻瓜v.凝固( clot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• When you cut yourself, blood clots and forms a scab. 你割破了，血会凝固、结痂。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Milk clots when it turns sour. 奶变酸就凝块。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 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。

3 recipient   

a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器

参考例句：

• Please check that you have a valid email certificate for each recipient. 请检查是否对每个接收者都有有效的电子邮件证书。
• Colombia is the biggest U . S aid recipient in Latin America. 哥伦比亚是美国在拉丁美洲最大的援助对象。

4 incision   

n．切口，切开

参考例句：

• The surgeon made a small incision in the patient's cornea.外科医生在病人的眼角膜上切开一个小口。
• The technique involves making a tiny incision in the skin.这项技术需要在皮肤上切一个小口。

5 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

6 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。

7 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。

8 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。

9 fetus   

n.胎，胎儿

参考例句：

• In the fetus,blood cells are formed in different sites at different ages.胎儿的血细胞在不同时期生成在不同的部位。
• No one knows why a fetus is not automatically rejected by the mother's immune system. 没有人知道为什么母亲的免疫系统不会自动排斥胎儿。

10 primates   

primate的复数

参考例句：

• Primates are alert, inquisitive animals. 灵长目动物是机灵、好奇的动物。
• Consciousness or cerebration has been said to have emerged in the evolution of higher primates. 据说意识或思考在较高级灵长类的进化中已出现。

11 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

12 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 nurture   

n.养育，照顾，教育；滋养，营养品；vt.养育，给与营养物，教养，扶持

参考例句：

• The tree grows well in his nurture.在他的培育下这棵树长得很好。
• The two sisters had received very different nurture.这俩个姊妹接受过极不同的教育。

14 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。