明年起，新加坡允许单身女性“冻卵” | 双语精选

近年来，冻卵在国外变得越来越流行，许多单身女性选择通过冻卵和试管婴儿来实现当母亲的愿望。前不久，新加坡发布了《女性发展白皮书》，其中规定，从明年初起，允许21岁至35岁的健康女性选择冻卵，为将来婚后受孕做准备。具体有哪些条件限制？社会反响又如何？我们一起看文章。

What Singapore's move to legalise egg freezing says about its society

社会观察：新加坡的冻卵合法化进程

Gwendolyn Tan was 31 when she decided to get her eggs frozen. A single working woman, she'd always wanted to have her own biological children - but didn't have a partner yet. The best possible solution for her was to freeze her eggs - to ensure meeting someone was not something she rushed into for the sake of having children.

31岁的格温多琳·谭（Gwendolyn Tan）决定冷冻她的卵子。身为职场女性的她虽然单身还没有伴侣，但一直想拥有自己的亲生孩子。对她而言，与其为了生孩子与别人仓促结婚，最好的解决方案还是冷冻卵子。

She hopped on a plane by herself and flew thousands of miles to the Thai capital of Bangkok, where the procedure was carried out. It was not cheap - Gwendolyn says she spent some S$15,000 (£8571; $10932) on the procedure.

她独自乘机飞往千里之外的泰国首都曼谷，在那里进行冻卵手术。这个手术并不便宜，格温多琳说她花了大约15,000新币（约合8571英镑或10932美元）。

But for her and many women in Singapore who wanted to undergo egg-freezing - going overseas was the only option they had.

但在新加坡，对许多和她一样想冻卵的女性来说，海外寻医是她们唯一的选择。

Egg-freezing is banned in Singapore with few exceptions. In 2020, the country's Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), said they had to take into account the "ethical and societal concerns over legalising egg freezing", amongst other factors.

在新加坡，除极少数特殊情况外，冻卵是被禁止的。2020年，该国社会及家庭发展部（MSF）表示，政府必须兼顾考虑到“冻卵合法化的伦理问题和社会影响”。

However, last month, in a ground-breaking move, the government announced that from 2023, single women between 21- 35 would be allowed to freeze their eggs.

然而，就在上个月，政府公布了一项开创性的政策，从2023年起，允许21-35岁的单身女性冻卵。

But with a caveat - they can use the eggs only if and when they are legally married. This immediately excludes single women who may want to raise children outside of marriage and also same-sex couples who cannot get married under Singaporean law.

但有一个前提条件，即：她们只有在合法结婚后才能使用卵子。这直接将不想结婚但想要有孩子的单身女性以及新加坡法律禁止结婚的同性伴侣排除在外。

Preserving fertility

保留生育能力

Globally, egg freezing has become increasing popular. It involves collecting a woman's eggs from her ovaries, storing them in a state of deep freeze and thawing them at a later stage. At this point they are put together with sperm in the hope that an embryo forms and a pregnancy develops.

在全球范围内，冻卵已经变得越来越流行。它涉及从妇女卵巢取卵，将其冷冻保存，及日后解冻。再与精子结合，希望形成胚胎并继续孕育生命。

In 2009, just 475 women froze their eggs in the US, according to date from the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology. By 2018, 13,275 women had done so - an increase of more than 2500%.

辅助生殖技术协会的数据显示，2009年全美只有475名妇女冻卵。截止到2018年，有13275名妇女进行了冻卵手术，增幅超过2500%。

Singapore has seen a similar trajectory.

新加坡也出现了类似的现象。

One clinic in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur told news agency AFP that in 2021, they had seen a "growing number" of Singaporean women coming for the procedure. And as more in Singapore started to turn to egg freezing - they also began speaking up against the ban.

马来西亚首都吉隆坡的一家诊所向法新社透露，在2021年，他们发现前来冻卵的新加坡女性人数“大幅增加”。随着越来越多的新加坡女性有冻卵需求，她们也开始疾呼解除该项禁令。

Emma, who in 2021 started "My Eggs My Time" - a campaign calling for egg freezing to be legalised in Singapore, was among them.

艾玛就是其中之一，她在2021年发起了 “我的卵子，我的时代”的运动，呼吁冻卵在新加坡合法化。

"The response [was] overwhelmingly positive. I received floods of messages from women sharing their stories on why they wanted to freeze their eggs," said Emma, who is only identified by her first name.

“活动反响十分积极。我收到了大量来自女性朋友的信息，她们与我分享为什么选择冻卵的经历。”艾玛说道，她不肯透露自己的全名。

The topic was also one that was repeatedly brought up in parliament by Member of Parliament Cheng Li Hui.

这个话题也是国会议员钟丽慧在议会上反复提到的。

"In 2016, when I first raised it, people were like 'What is this? You're too modern for us'," she said. "But along the way, there's been a lot more conversation. Last year [after I brought this topic up], I could really see a big difference [in reactions]. I got many more emails thanking me."

“2016年，当我第一次提出这个话题时，人们都很惊诧‘这是什么？你也太现代了’。”钟丽慧讲到，“但一路走来，经历很多交涉。去年[在我提出这个话题后]，我真的看到[人们的反应]有了很大不同。我收到了更多感谢我的电子邮件。”

Many have also welcomed the fact that egg-freezing could help boost Singapore's fertility rate, which is among the lowest in the world. In 2020, this stood at a historic low of 1.1 babies per woman, compared to a global average of 2.4.

许多人对此表示欢迎，因为新加坡是世界上生育率最低的国家之一，冻卵有利于提高新加坡的生育率。2020年，该国每名妇女平均生育1.1个婴儿，处于历史最低水平，而全球平均水平为2.4个。

"This is a timely move," said Shailey Hingorani, Aware's head of Research and Advocacy, but adds that there are several caveats that are "disappointing".

“该项举措十分及时，”Aware的研究和宣传主管莎莉·格拉尼（Shailey Hingorani）说，但她又补充到，有几个注意事项是“令人失望的”。

A traditional family nucleus

传统核心家庭

Singapore is one of the world's most modern cities - yet its also deeply conservative - especially around its concept of family, which it refers to as the "basic building blocks of society",

新加坡是世界上最现代化的国家之一，但也非常保守，特别在家庭观念上，新加坡把家庭称为 “社会的基本组成单元”。

The state largely tries to push forward a "limited definition of family... traditionally defined as a father, mother and their children", says Ms Hingorani.

格拉尼女士说，国家试图大力推行“家庭的固有定义……传统上被定义为由父亲、母亲和他们的孩子构成。”

State policies are arguably geared towards encouraging the growth of such families. Unwed and single parents for example, are only eligible for limited housing grants.

可以说，国家政策是为了鼓励这类家庭的发展。比如，未婚的和单亲的父母只有资格获得有限的住房补助。

"Singapore's housing policies do not consider a single unwed mother and her children a "family nucleus", and thus disallow them from qualifying for certain subsidies," said Ms Hingorani.

格拉尼女士说：“新加坡的住房政策认为单身未婚母亲和她的孩子不算‘核心家庭’，因此她们没有资格获得某些补贴。

Single people - including LGBT couples who cannot legally get married - must also wait until the age of 35 to buy public housing flats, and even then have a smaller number of options to choose from.

单身人士，还有不能合法结婚的LGBT夫妇，也必须等到35岁才能购买公屋，且可供选择的房屋数量也少。

When asked if there were plans to change these caveats, a spokesperson from Singapore's Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) said the country's public policy "encourages parenthood within marriage".

当被问及是否有计划改变这些特殊规定时，新加坡社会及家庭发展部的一位发言人说，该国的公共政策“鼓励婚内生育”。

Ms Hingorani added this was "disappointing, but not surprising", and has called for Singapore to "make elective egg freezing accessible to all regardless of marital status, financial capacity and educational status".

格拉尼女士补充说这“有些令人失望，但在意料之内”，她继续呼吁新加坡政府能让“所有人，无论婚姻状况、经济能力以及教育状况如何，都有选择冻卵的权利”。

Another issue that has been brought up with the new policy is that Singapore will only allow women under the age of 35 to freeze their eggs.

新政策带来的另一个问题是，新加坡只允许35岁以下的女性冻卵。

This is in line with guidelines set by UK fertility regulator HFEA, which says fertility declines with age, so the optimum time for egg freezing is before a woman turns 35. Yet data has showed that the most common age at which women in the UK are treated is 38, with many freezing eggs into their 40s.

这符合英国生育监管机构HFEA制定的指导方针。该机构表示，生育能力会随着年龄的增长而下降，因此冻卵的最佳时间是在女性35岁之前。然而数据显示，英国女性接受生育治疗的最常见年龄是38岁，也有很多40多岁进行冻卵的女性。

Ms Cheng says women in Singapore may face a similar situation. "We are a developed nation, we have educated women who have careers and have choices. I think the age limit of 35 is really tight. If a 37-year-old has a good egg reserve does that mean we should stop them from freezing their eggs?" she said.

钟女士说，新加坡的女性可能面临类似的状况。“我们是发达国家，女性接受过教育，她们有事业，有选择。我认为35岁的年龄卡得真的很紧。如果一个37岁的女性有良好的卵子储备，这是否意味着我们要阻止她们冷冻卵子？”她说。

But the MSF says the age limit is "based on international scientific evidence and professional consensus that egg quality tends to decline significantly after 35 years", though they said it was possible for women to appeal this age limit on a case-by-case basis.

新加坡社会及家庭发展部解释道，这个年龄限制是“基于国际上的科学论证和专业共识，即卵子质量在35岁以后显著下降”，但他们还说女性可以根据个案情况对这个年龄限制提出上诉。

They added that they "may review this age limit... should there be medical advances which allow a stronger likelihood of conception with eggs that are from older women."

他们还补充道：“如果随着医学的进步，年龄较大的女性卵子受孕可能性增大......他们可能会重新审视这个年龄限制。”

译者：签约笔译班学员 Vera

审校：Jennifer

英文来源：BBC

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