The
war has thrown Ukraine’s surrogacy industry into crisis战争让乌克兰的代孕产业陷入危机 But
there are not many other places couples can go 但是没有其他地方可去 WHEN MISSILES began falling on Ukraine in February one woman from the
centre of the country faced an especially perilous evacuation. She was 30 weeks
pregnant—with someone else’s baby. The 31-year-old, who goes by the name Tamara
for fear of abuse, was put on a bus to Poland by Delivering Dreams, the
surrogacy agency she was working through. Her legs swelled up during the long
journey. But Tamara made it to safety and in April gave birth to a healthy
baby, who is now with its intended parents in America.当二月份炮火在乌克兰打响时，一位怀孕30周的女子经过长途跋涉，终于到了波兰安全的地方。四月份，31岁的Tamara生下了一名健康的婴儿。而此刻，这个婴儿已经与他的美国父母在一起。Before the war about 2,500 surrogate mothers gave birth in Ukraine
every year, according to Sam Everingham, who runs Growing Families, a
non-profit. The babies’ intended parents are generally foreign couples, mostly
from Europe. They appreciate Ukraine’s clear laws about surrogacy,
which ensure that they are recognised as their baby’s legal parents from the
moment of conception. They also like the cost. Mr Everingham reckons that
having a baby by a Ukrainian surrogate costs between $35,000 and $55,000—about
one-third of the price in America.Tamara是乌克兰每年2500名代孕母亲中的一员。她们的代孕客户主要来自欧洲和亚洲等国。因为乌克兰的代孕法律比较清晰，客户能够如期带回自己的孩子。而且代孕费用也比较便宜，只为美国的1/3。The Russian invasion, unsurprisingly, has thrown the industry into
disarray. Surrogates have had to deliver in hospital basements. All pregnant
women have had to put up with more limited health care, particularly in the
east of the country where conflict is fiercest. Foreign parents, many of whom
have been through lengthy fertility treatments and lost pregnancies before,
fret from afar.毫无疑问，战争扰乱了这个行业。在战争期间，所有的代孕母亲被转移到了地下室，不得不忍受着有限的医疗和较差的居住环境。而外国父母也在焦急地等待着孩子的安全。Ukraine’s surrogacy agencies have responded to the catastrophe in very different
ways. At the start of the war a handful of agencies initially stopped
responding to emails and phone calls—leaving pregnant women with no way of
contacting the parents of the babies they are carrying. Online groups sprung up
to connect parents and surrogates who have found themselves in this situation.
Tamara used Facebook and her own detective skills to track down about 20
foreign couples on behalf of other surrogates.乌克兰的代孕机构应对这场危机的手段不同。战争一开始，很多机构直接采取“失联”状态，不回电话，不回邮件，导致代孕母亲无法与她们所代孕的客户取得联系。But as the conflict continues agencies have found ways to keep
delivering on their promises. Sensible Surrogacy, an agency with partners on
the ground in Ukraine, paid to evacuate Ukrainian surrogates to Poland and the
Czech Republic. There, the agency hired local staff to check in on the women
and continue doing weekly blood tests for alcohol and other drugs. The catch is
that surrogates have to return to Ukraine near their due date. If they give
birth in Poland, where surrogacy is illegal, the intended parents do not
automatically have any rights over the child.随着战争的继续，代孕机构必须有所作为。于是，他们付钱将代孕母亲转移到了波兰和捷克等国，然后再聘用当地员工来照顾代孕母亲们，包括每周对她们进行血检和酒精、药物检查。
但是，在预产期临近时，这些母亲必须回到乌克兰，因为在波兰代孕是非法的，所以，只有回到乌克兰，代孕的客户才能顺利带回自己的宝宝。For a while foreign couples who would normally have travelled to
Ukraine for the births of their children had to pay local nannies to hand over
newborns at border crossings. Britain began issuing visas to Ukrainian
surrogates who were carrying babies for British couples. But now that fighting
is predominantly in the south and east of the country, foreign couples are once
again travelling to cities such as Kyiv and Lviv to collect their children.孩子生下后，外国客户要来乌克兰带回宝宝，还要在边界支付当地保姆照看宝宝的工钱。英国给那些为英国夫妇代孕的乌克兰女性发放了签证。Indeed, international surrogacy agencies say that interest in Ukrainian
surrogacy crashed at the start of the war but is now rising once more. Global
demand for surrogacy is increasing, in part because people are starting
families later in life, which increases the risk that they will no longer be
fertile. But in recent years Cambodia, India, Nepal and Thailand have banned
surrogacy for non-residents for fear that women might be exploited. In Britain,
only “altruistic surrogacy”, where the surrogate receives cash only to cover
expenses, is allowed. That reduces the number of women willing to provide it.随着大家逐渐适应这场战争，乌克兰的代孕产业也逐渐恢复起来。全球代孕需求在上升，一个原因是人们成家立业的时间越来越晚，无法生育的可能性变高。另一个原因是，柬埔寨，印度，尼泊尔和泰国禁止为非本地人代孕，因为害怕女性被剥削。在英国，只有“利他代孕”，即不是为了盈利的代孕才被允许。Ukrainian women who have lost everything in the war could be exploited
if dodgy types enter the industry. But Olha, a Ukrainian surrogate who is
carrying her third baby for a foreign couple, says she doesn’t regret her
decision. She is being paid $450 per month during her pregnancy. She will earn
another $18,000 when she gives birth. That is a life-changing sum in a country
where GDP per person before the war was about $4,800. “Surrogates are
grown-ups,” she says. “We know what we are doing.” ■因战争失去一切的乌克兰女性，如果再遇上狡猾的代孕机构，就真正地被剥削了。代孕了3个孩子的Olha说，她不后悔代孕工作，因为在怀孕期间，她每个月能得到450美元。孩子生下后，她还能得到1.8万美元。这些钱对一个战前GDP只有4800美元的家庭来说，就是一笔巨款。“代孕的都是成年人，所以，我们知道自己在做什么。”
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