BANS on same-sex marriage or civil unions are toppling across the Western world. And growing numbers of gay and lesbian couples are doing what typical married couples do: settling down and starting a family. Some adopt while others have their own biological children. How do they do the latter?

(随着很多西方国家取消了同性婚姻禁令，越来越多的同志情侣选择像异性恋情侣一样过家庭生活：领养孩子或生孩子，那么后者如何做到呢？）

Lesbian couples use medically assisted insemination. The sperm donor is usually anonymous and picked from a sperm bank. Some turn to a friend; others to a brother or a male cousin to have a baby genetically related to both women. Some use in vitro fertilisation: one woman may contribute the egg while the other carries the pregnancy. Gay men use surrogacy, which comes in two forms. In traditional surrogacy the woman who carries the baby to term is also the genetic mother. Gestational surrogacy uses an egg from a donor, rather than the surrogate. Most couples prefer this as the surrogate is less likely to want or indeed be able to keep a newborn not genetically related to her. Gay couples often leave the baby’s genetic fatherhood up to chance by mixing their sperm, though some combine an egg from one man’s sister and the other man’s sperm for a baby genetically related to both men.

（女同志采取医疗辅助受精的方法：精子通常从精子库中选取，来源匿名；或者寻求朋友帮助；或者寻求兄弟的帮忙，这样孩子跟双方都会有血缘关系；或者采用体外人工受精的方法，一方提供卵子，一方负责怀孕。男同志采用代孕的办法，最普通的代孕是指代孕者也是孩子的生母，还有一种代孕是卵子来自捐献者，大多数GAY COUPLE选择后者，因为这样代孕者不大会设法留下跟她没有血缘关系的孩子，GAY COUPLE常常会将他们的精子混在一起，这样他们谁可以当爸爸就成了一个随机事件，当然也可以用一方姐妹的卵子，加上另一方的精子，这样孩子跟双方都有血缘关系。）

But what is involved in such reproduction is often illegal or tricky to get hold of. Many countries deny lesbians medical baby-making help, with such assistance reserved for those who are in a heterosexual marriage instead. Surrogacy for gays is legal in only a handful of places. Even where it is allowed, surrogacy is often very expensive or requires spending years on a waiting list. Some couples go abroad: the rich to America, where the baby-tab can be over $120,000. Poorer people go to places like Thailand and Mexico. In such cross-border cases, getting identity documents for the baby issued by the parents’ country can be tricky. As a result, some newborns have got stuck as citizens of nowhere.

但是这样的繁殖方法在很多地方是非法的，提供帮助的渠道也少。很多国家拒绝向女同志提供人工受精的医疗协助，把这种医疗资源留给不育的异性恋家庭。同志代孕只在很少的地方是合法的，即使合法，费用也非常高昂或者需要很长的等待时间：有钱的同志情侣选择去美国代孕，经济状况不好的去墨西哥或者泰国。在这种异国代孕的例子中，孩子常常很难获得身份，很可能最后变成“黑户”

Even once all these hurdles have been cleared, homosexual couples may still not attain joint parental rights. In several places, including Britain, Scandinavia and parts of America, when a baby is born into a same-sex couple the other partner is automatically recognised as a co-parent. And in around 20 countries a partner can adopt the child as a step-parent. But anywhere else, gays and lesbians with youngsters navigate child-rearing with only half the rights of their heterosexual neighbours. 

（同志抚养孩子还需面临的问题是家长的监护权利如何获得。在英国、北欧斯堪迪纳维亚半岛以及美国部分地区，当同志情侣的孩子出生后，双方自动拥有parent的身份，在约20个国家里，一方只能以继父或继母的身份抚养孩子）

- See more at: http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2014/08/economist-explains-0#sthash.VcCI3fUU.dpuf