英倫翻譯社/ Trsmaster

◎管淑平

’Pregnant man’ Thomas Beatie’s divorce from his ex-wife Nancy is trapped in legal limbo while an Arizona judge decides if their marriage was ever valid in the first place.

「懷孕男」湯馬斯．畢提與其前妻南西離婚案卡在法律灰色地帶，正等待亞利桑納法官裁定他們的婚姻是否從一開始就具有效力。

Thomas Beatie was born a woman and underwent a sex change but retained female reproductive organs and gave birth to three children.

畢提原本天生是女的，動了變性手術，但保留女性生殖器官，並且生了3個小孩。

The couple, who married in 2003, are now trying to get divorced and work out the custody issues for their three children, plus the division of property and spousal support.

這對2003年結婚的夫妻現在要離婚，正在處理他們3名子女的監護權，以及分財產和贍養費的問題。

But their divorce plans stalled when Family Court Judge Douglas Gerlach said in late June that he was unable to find any legal authority defining a man as someone who can give birth.

但去年6月底家事法庭法官道格拉斯．葛拉克說，他無法找到任何把能生孩子的人定義為男性的法定許可權，因此耽擱了他們的離婚計畫。

The validity of the Beatie’s marriage now hangs in the balance, as same-sex marriage is forbidden in Arizona and the state doesn’t recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states.

由於亞利桑納州禁止同性婚姻，也不承認在其他州完成的同性婚姻，畢提這樁婚姻的有效性，現在懸而未定。

Thomas and Nancy agree they should end the marriage. ’’If you took away the transgender part of it, it’s a garden-variety divorce case,’’ said David Higgins, Nancy’s attorney.

湯馬斯和南西都認同，他們應該結束這段婚姻。南西的律師大衛．希金斯說，「若你拿掉其中變性的部份，這是一樁非常普通的離婚案」。

新聞辭典

snag：動詞或名詞，意外的阻礙、困難；（口語）迅速獲取。

limbo：名詞，被忽略，或者過渡、不明狀態或地帶。例句：The project has hit a snag and still remains in limbo.（這項專案遇到阻礙了，仍擱置中。）

hang in the balance：動詞片語，懸而未決。例句：Lives of those miners trapped underground still hang in the balance.（那些受困地底礦工的生死仍未卜。）

garden-variety：口語，非常普通的、司空見慣的。例句：It is just a garden-variety shop.（那只是一家非常普通的店。）

文章出處 ：自由時報電子報中英對照新聞