巴西女性對美國精子的需求激增

With "jewel-tone eyes," blond hair and a "smattering of light freckles," Othello looks nothing like most Brazilians, the majority of whom are black or mixed-race.

奧賽羅金髮碧眼，臉上點綴着幾顆淺淺的雀斑。他這樣的長相與大多爲黑人或混血人種的巴西人截然不同。

Yet the "Caucasian" American cashier, described in those terms by the Seattle Sperm Bank and known as Donor 9601, is one of the sperm providers most often requested by wealthy Brazilian women importing the DNA of young U.S. men at unprecedented rates.

西雅圖精子庫對奧賽羅的標註是“高加索人種”，美國出納員，“9601號捐贈者”。近年來，富有的巴西女性購買年輕美國男性DNA的熱情空前高漲，奧賽羅正是她們最青睞的那類精子提供者之一。

Over the past seven years, human semen imports from the U.S. to Brazil have surged as more rich single women and lesbian couples select donors whose online profiles suggest they will yield light-complexioned and preferably blue-eyed children.

過去七年來，巴西從美國進口的男性精液數量激增，越來越多的富裕單身女性和女同性戀伴侶在網上瀏覽捐精者的資料，選擇那些能讓她們生出淺膚色、最好是藍眼睛寶寶的捐精對象。

Brazil is one of the fastest-growing markets for imported semen in recent years, said Michelle Ottey, laboratory director of Virginia-based Fairfax Cryobank, a large distributor and the biggest exporter to Brazil.

位於弗吉尼亞州的費爾法克斯精子銀行是一家大型分銷機構，也是面向巴西最大的出口機構。實驗室主任米歇爾·奧蒂表示，巴西是近年來精液進口量增長最快的市場之一。

More than 500 tubes of foreign semen frozen in liquid nitrogen arrived at Brazilian airports last year, officials and sperm-bank directors said, up from 16 in 2011. Complete data from Anvisa, Brazil's health-care regulator, isn't yet available for 2017.

巴西官員及精子庫負責人表示，去年有500多管冷凍在液氮中的外國精液運抵巴西機場，2011年該數量僅爲16管。巴西衛生保健監管機構Anvisa尚未公佈2017年的完整數據。

U.S. sperm-bank directors said preferences like those of Brazilian purchasers hold across their global market.

美國精子庫的管理人員們表示，巴西買家的這種偏好在全球市場都普遍存在。

"The vast majority of what we have and what we sell are the Caucasian blond-haired, blue-eyed donors," said Fredrik Andreasson, CFO of Seattle Sperm Bank, which provides about a quarter of Brazil's imports.

西雅圖精子銀行首席財務官弗雷德裏克·安德雷森稱：“我們存儲並銷售的精子，大部分來自金髮碧眼的高加索人種捐贈者。”巴西進口精子的約四分之一來自該精子庫。

Everyone wants a "pretty kid" and for many parents in Brazil, where prejudice often runs deep, that means "the white biotype—light-colored eyes and skin," said Susy Pommer, a 28-year-old data analyst from Sao Paulo who decided to get pregnant last year after a breast-cancer scare left her eager to raise a child right away with her partner, Priscilla.

在聖保羅工作的28歲數據分析師蘇西·珀梅爾表示，每個人都想生個“漂亮寶寶”，而在種族偏見頗深的巴西，對於許多父母而言，漂亮寶寶就意味着“白種人--淺瞳色，白皮膚。”她去年一度懷疑自己患上了乳腺癌，被嚇得不輕。隨後就急切地想和伴侶普里西拉生個孩子，於是開始了備孕。

The preference for white donors reflects a persistent preoccupation with race in a country where social class and skin color correlate with glaring accuracy. More than 50% of Brazilians are black or mixed-race, a legacy of Brazil having imported more than 10 times as many African slaves than the U.S.; it was the last Western country to ban slavery, in 1888.

在巴西，社會階層與膚色密切相關，而這種對白人捐精者的偏好正反映了巴西人對種族問題的長期成見。巴西的黑奴數量曾經是美國的10倍以上，這段歷史的遺留產物就是，50%以上的巴西人是黑人或混血；巴西直至1888年才廢除奴隸制，成爲最後一個廢除奴隸制的西方國家。

The descendants of white colonizers and immigrants -- many of whom were lured to Brazil in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when the ruling elite explicitly sought to "whiten" the population -- control most of the country's political power and wealth.

19世紀末20世紀初，統治巴西的精英階層爲了“白化”當地人口，引誘了不少白人殖民者和移民來到巴西，如今，他們的後代掌握着巴西的大部分政治權力和財富。

In such a racially divided society, having fair-skinned offspring is often viewed as a way to provide a child with better prospects, from a higher salary to fairer treatment by the police.

在這樣一個種族分裂的社會裏，擁有一個膚色白皙的後代，往往意味着父母能爲孩子提供一個更光明的未來：從更高的工資到警察更公平的對待。

Money is also a factor setting parameters for the DNA import boom. Carefully categorized and genetically vetted sperm from U.S. providers has to be procured from Brazilian fertility clinics at a cost of some $1,500 a vial, often as part of an in vitro fertilization procedure that costs roughly $7,000 an attempt.

金錢也是精子進口熱潮的一個重要因素。巴西人必須通過巴西的生育診所，才能以每小瓶1500美元的價格購買經過細緻分類和基因檢測的美國提供者的精子，這通常是體外受精手術的一部分，一次手術大約要花費7000美元。

Whites are more likely able to afford that in a country where about 80% of the richest 1% are white, according to Brazil's statistics agency.

巴西統計局的數據顯示，全國最富有的1%人羣中80%是白人，白人更有可能負擔得起這樣高昂的費用。