Inside U.K. Fertile or infertile, Britain wants kids By Richard Payne	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
イギリスの新しい家族の形 英国では、6組に一組のカップルが不妊の問題を抱えているといわれます。原因の一つは、キャリアを優先し、子づくりを後回しにする女性が増えたこと。妊娠しにくい年齢になって出産を希望する女性たちのために、体外授精や養子など、さまざまな解決策が登場しています。

The inability to have a baby was a subject that simply was not discussed openly in Britain. Couples that desperately wanted children but couldn't have them just got on with their lives, often suffering in silence.

Now though, things have changed. Everywhere you turn, it seems, there are magazine articles, TV programs and even a recent hit movie, "Maybe Baby," about infertility.

One in six couples in the U.K. have fertility problems. One of the reasons is that British women are waiting until much later in life to start a family. They are spending years building a career and earning money but when they get to their 30s and decide they want to start a family, many are finding it may not be that easy because as they get older their chances of becoming pregnant decrease.

Elizabeth Morley, a 34-year-old TV producer who lives in London with her lawyer husband, tried for three years to have a baby before deciding to seek medical help. Elizabeth had spent years building a successful career in the competitive world of television before taking time out to start a family.

She couldn't believe it when the months went by and there was still no sign of a baby: "I had everything I wanted — a great husband, a great house and a great job. I just assumed that I would be able to have children but when it didn't happen I became more and more depressed.

"Eventually, I went to see a doctor and had some tests carried out and was told that the only way I would be able to have a baby was through IVF (invitro fertilization)."

One in 80 children born in Britain today is a so-called "test tube baby" born as a result of IVF. But not every couple who could benefit from the treatment gets the chance. It is only covered by the National Health Service (NHS) in certain parts of the U.K.

For example, a couple living in the city of Bristol in the west of England can have two free attempts at IVF on the NHS. But a couple living just a few miles away in the county of Somerset is not entitled to the treatment because their local health service does not provide it.

Even those who are entitled to the treatment for free usually have a long wait — up to three years — because the demand is high and the pressure on the doctors and the hospitals is so great.

For couples who have to pay for the treatment it can be expensive — between 2,000 pounds (¥358,000) and 5,000 pounds (¥895,000). It can also be very stressful with no guarantee of a baby at the end of it. The success rates are around 15 to 20 percent.

Elizabeth Morley says she was lucky: "I didn't want to wait because that would have been too stressful. So, we decided to go to a private clinic and pay for the treatment. It wasn't easy, and when it didn't work we were very disappointed.

"We decided to try again a few months later, and the second time it worked. We found out on my birthday that we were expecting a baby. We were absolutely delighted nine months later when our baby boy was born."

Her husband, Andrew, adds: "It was hard watching Elizabeth going through all the weeks and months of treatment.

"The waiting is the hardest thing, but there's nothing else you can do. But we're luckier than many. We have a very strong marriage and, fortunately, the money to try to do something about it. For those who have to wait years, it must be even harder."

Some couples in the U.K. are going to extreme measures and paying many thousands of pounds to buy a baby. The recent case of Alan and Judith Kilshaw, who paid more than 8,000 pounds (¥1.43 million) to adopt twin baby girls from the U.S., made headline news around the world. The couple had bought the girls through an adoption agency, which was advertised on the Internet.

The case again made the headlines when it emerged that a U.S. couple had also paid to adopt the twin girls and claimed they belonged to them. Following a court hearing in the U.K., the girls were eventually returned to the U.S. This case highlighted the growing "trade" in babies, as more and more couples find they are unable to have a child naturally.

There is actually a shortage of parents for children of school age, such is the demand for babies and toddlers. In order to help reduce the numbers of children awaiting adoption, the government has recently relaxed certain laws. People in their mid-30s were previously considered too old to be considered, but that is now not always the case.

No longer are the poor and the unemployed considered unsuitable candidates to adopt children. Those who make the rules are being pressured to accept single people, as Britain has a growing number of single-parent families as well as couples who are not married but live together. With an estimated 5,000 children in this country awaiting adoption every year, one thing is clear — solutions to this heartbreaking problem have to be found.

Shukan ST: May 18, 2001

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