Ashley's parents call her their Pillow Angel, a moniker that is a reference to the love and joy they feel for their nine-year-old daughter and the severe disabilities she has suffered from birth. She cannot sit up, walk or talk, is fed by tube, and, as her parents put it, "stays right where we place her - usually on a pillow".

艾希莉的父母管她叫「枕頭天使」，這個暱稱主要反映他們對九歲女兒一出生就為嚴重殘疾所苦的愛和喜樂。她不能坐直、走路或說話，得靠食管餵食。一如她父母所說，「她總是在我們安置她的地方──通常是在枕頭上。」

Ashley won't know this, as she is brain-damaged and has the awareness, her doctors say, of a baby, but she has become the subject of a passionate argument in disability circles and beyond. Her name is becoming synonymous with the debate about the acceptable limits of medical intervention in the care of disabled people.

對這一切，艾希莉一無所悉，因為她腦部受創，而據她的醫師表示，她的認知能力和嬰兒差不多，但她已經成為殘障圈及其他更多團體熱烈爭辯的議題。她的名字也變成醫療介入照護殘障人士可接受限度之辯的同義詞。

The cause of the controversy is the "Ashley Treatment" - a course of surgery and hormone supplements devised for her at her parents' request and with the blessing of doctors - that will for ever keep her small. It involves surgical operations, including a hysterectomy, and hormone prescriptions that will, in effect, freeze-frame her body at its current size.

引起爭議的成因是「艾希莉療程」，是應她父母之請並得到醫師同意專門為她設計的手術和賀爾蒙補充療程，這將會使她永遠長不大。這個療程包括外科手術，包括子宮切除術及賀爾蒙處方，雙管齊下，將可實質將她身體的骨架凍結在目前的大小。

Although she has a normal life expectancy, she will, physically, always be nine years old. Her growth has been suspended at 1.3 metres, rather than the 1.67 metres she would probably otherwise have become. Her weight will stick at around 34kg rather than 56.7kg.

雖然她會有正常的預期平均壽命，但她在身體上將永遠是九歲大。她在長到130公分時成長中止，否則她可能可以成長到167公分，她的體重也卡在34公斤，而不是56.7公斤。

This week Ashley's parents, who have chosen to remain anonymous and have only let it be known that they are "college-educated professionals" living in Washington state, have posted on the internet a lengthy explanation of their desire to stunt her growth. It is the first time they have given a public account of their actions. The explanation is accompanied by a gallery of photographs showing Ashley over the years, from her as a smiling baby a few months old, through to today when she is seen nestled in a sheepskin rug.

本周，艾希莉的父母，他們選擇匿名，但透露他們「是受過大學教育的專業人士」，住在華盛頓州，他們在網站上貼上長文，解釋他們為何想阻止她繼續成長。這也是他們第一次公開說明他們所採取的行動，還附上艾希莉多年來成長的系列照片，從她只有幾個月大的微笑貝比，到今天可以看到她安臥在羊皮毛毯上。

She was diagnosed, they explain, with brain damage with unknown causes just after birth and has remained at the same developmental level since about three months. Three years ago she began to show early signs of puberty, and they grew anxious about the impact of fertility and of her rapidly increasing size and weight on the quality of her life. In discussions with doctors at Seattle Children's hospital they devised the treatment: removal of Ashley's uterus to prevent fertility, excision of early buds on her chest so that she would not develop breasts, and medication with high doses of oestrogen to limit her growth by prematurely fusing the growth plates of her bones.

他們解釋說，她一出生就被診斷出腦部損傷，但原因不明，而且自從三個月大之後，一直停留在同樣的發展水平。三年前，她開始出現早期青春期的跡象，他們對她生育力的衝擊及她體型和體重快速成長對她生活品質的影響感到憂心。在和西雅圖兒童醫院的醫師討論後，他們設計一套療程：剝除艾希莉的子宮，以預防她的生育能力；另外切除她胸部早期隆起的乳蕾，以免長出乳房；另外提早融合她骨骼的生長板以加重雌激素劑量，限制她的成長。

The parents insist that the treatment, carried out in 2004, was conceived for Ashley's benefit and not their own ease or convenience. With a lighter body and no breasts, Ashley will have fewer bed sores and lie more comfortably. And a smaller Ashley can be cared for and carried. "As a result we will continue to delight in holding her in our arms and Ashley will be moved and taken on trips more frequently instead of lying in her bed staring at TV or the ceiling all day long," they write.

艾希莉的父母堅稱，這項治療是在2004年進行，主要是為艾希莉的福利設想，不是為了他們自己圖輕鬆方便。體重減輕又沒有乳房的艾希莉比較不會長褥瘡，躺著也比較舒適，而且體型較小的艾希莉也方便照顧和搬動，他們寫道：「結果，我們可以繼續享受擁抱她的樂趣，艾希莉也可以常常搬動旅行，不必成天躺在床上看電視或瞪著天花板看。」

But as news about the treatment became known, Ashley's parents were surprised by the virulence of some of the response. Comments on chatboards have included: "Ouch - this smacks of eugenics"; "I find this offensive, truly a milestone in our convenience society"; "This smells, I can't agree with this".

但這項治療的消息傳開後，艾希莉的父母對有些惡毒的反應感到驚訝，聊天板上的評論包括「天哪！這帶有優生學色彩」；「我發現這很令人作嘔，實在是我們這個便利社會的里程碑」；「這實在臭不可聞，我實在不敢苟同。」

The ethical row is likely to deepen as the Seattle doctors, led by Daniel Gunther, say they are considering other children for similar treatment, though only after monitoring by the hospital's ethics committee. The doctors accept that Ashley's hysterectomy was contentious, given the dark history of sterilisation of disabled people in Europe and America, and that there were risks involved in the operations and oestrogen doses.

隨著以根德醫師為首的西雅圖醫師群表示，他們正在考慮是否讓其他兒童接受類似治療，但必須先經過醫院倫理委員會審批，使倫理爭議可能深化。醫師也承認，考慮到歐美將殘疾人士絕育的黑暗史，艾希莉子宮切除術是有爭議的，手術和雌激素劑量也有風險。

But they argue the benefits outweigh the risks. Ashley has, they admit, been "infantilised" but question the harm that would do a person whose mental capacity "will always be that of a young child".

但他們認為，利多於弊，他們承認，艾希莉已經「永久幼兒化」，但質疑這對一個心智能力「永遠只像兒童」的人會有什麼傷害。

There is a long history of hormones being used to control growth in children. In some cases they are used to counteract a hormonal imbalance or genetic disorder. But there have also been sustained attempts to control body size for cosmetic reasons.

賀爾蒙被用來控制兒童成長其來有自，在有些病例中，他們被用來中和賀爾蒙失衡或基因異常，但一直有人為了整形美容的原因，試圖控制身材。

《詞解》
 Pillow Angel 枕頭天使
moniker 綽號、暱稱
brain-damaged 腦損傷
synonymous 同義詞
hysterectomy 子宮切除術
life expectancy 預期平均壽命
stunt 阻止
nestled 安臥
sheepskin rug 綿羊皮毛毯
puberty 青春期
uterus 子宮
early buds on her chest 乳蕾
bed sores 褥瘡
eugenics 優生學
offensive 令人作嘔
hysterectomy 子宮切除術
sterilisation 絕育
oestrogen 雌激素