Chapter 6 - THE TWO EMBRYOS MY MOTHER CALLED “ABANDONED”
Claire did not scream.
Mark almost wished she had.
She sat down.
Very slowly.
Then asked:
“How did my embryos become a family-directed donation?”
Margaret looked toward Dana.
Dana said:
“You should speak with your own lawyer.”
Margaret whispered:
“I’m going to tell her.”
Richard laughed bitterly.
“Now honesty is urgent.”
Margaret closed her eyes.
Three years earlier, during Claire and Mark’s second IVF cycle, Margaret attended almost every appointment.
Mark traveled frequently.
Claire was exhausted.
Margaret drove her home after retrieval.
Helped with injections.
Sat beside her after a failed transfer.
The embryos became part of family language.
Your little snowflakes.
Maybe the next one.
Don’t give up.
Then Claire miscarried after the third transfer.
She stopped talking about them.
Mark and Claire stopped treatment.
The two remaining embryos stayed frozen.
Margaret asked Claire once what she would do with them.
Claire said:
“I can’t think about it.”
Margaret heard something else.
Abandonment.
At least that was what she claimed.
“Dr. Rowan knew I wanted donor embryos,” Margaret said.
Claire stared.
“You were already planning this?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“About a year.”
Richard looked at her.
“You told me six months.”
“I started consultations before.”
His face hardened.
Another lie.
Margaret continued.
“My donor cycle had problems.”
“What problems?”
“Embryo quality.”
“And Rowan suggested mine?”
“No.”
She looked down.
“I did.”
Silence.
Mark’s stomach turned.
“You asked for our embryos.”
“Yes.”
Claire whispered:
“You asked a doctor to give you my children.”
“I asked whether family donation was possible.”
“Without asking me.”
Margaret’s eyes filled.
“I thought you would say no.”
Claire laughed once.
“Excellent reason not to ask.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Her voice rose.
“Stop saying that.”
Margaret flinched.
Claire stood.
“Did Rowan say yes?”
“Not at first.”
“What did he say?”
“That both genetic parents would need consent.”
“Correct.”
“I asked whether old consents could be updated.”
Dana’s expression changed.
“What old consents?”
Margaret swallowed.
“When Claire first listed embryo disposition preferences, there was an option for donation.”
Claire frowned.
“We selected discard only after both of us agreed.”
Mark nodded.
“I remember.”
Margaret said:
“Earlier paperwork had family donation as a possible future option.”
Dana shook her head.
“A possible option is not authorization.”
“I know.”
Claire stared.
“You had my old forms.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“You gave me a binder during treatment.”
Of course.
Medication sheets.
Insurance forms.
Consent copies.
Margaret had been the organized mother.
She kept everything.
“What did you do with them?”
“I scanned the signature pages.”
Mark stood.
Richard said:
“Jesus Christ.”
Claire went completely still.
“You forged my signature.”
Margaret whispered:
“Yes.”
“And Mark’s?”
“Yes.”
Mark felt his face burn.
“You forged both of us?”
“Yes.”
“On embryo disposition documents.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Margaret began crying.
“I wanted one chance.”
Claire looked at her mother as if language had stopped functioning.
Margaret continued:
“I was fifty-four. Every clinic said donor eggs only. Richard wasn’t even sure he wanted to do it.”
Richard stared.
“You told me the embryos were anonymous.”
“They were supposed to be.”
“You let me think I was their father.”
“The clinic used your sample.”
“So you believed.”
“Yes.”
Richard laughed.
“Wonderful.”
Margaret looked at Claire.
“I thought if I carried embryos genetically connected to you—”
“Stop.”
Claire’s voice broke.
“You thought what?”
“That it would still be family.”
“They were already family.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Claire stepped closer.
“They were mine.”
Margaret whispered:
“You weren’t using them.”
Mark closed his eyes.
There.
The sentence.
The belief underneath everything.
Unused meant available.
Claire stared.
“So because I stopped treatment, you decided my embryos belonged to whoever wanted them more.”
“No.”
“That is exactly what you did.”
Margaret covered her mouth.
Dana said:
“We need records from Lakeview before anyone assumes Dr. Rowan accepted forged signatures knowingly.”
Claire turned.
“He transferred them.”
“Yes.”
“That doesn’t tell us what he knew.”
Mark hated the lawyer for being correct.
Again.
Richard asked:
“Why were two embryos available if one of Margaret’s donor embryos only failed during thaw?”
Margaret froze.
Dana noticed.
“What?”
Margaret shook her head.
“Nothing.”
Richard stepped forward.
“You said one failed.”
“Yes.”
“You were scheduled for two donor embryos?”
“Yes.”
“Then you needed one replacement.”
Margaret looked down.
Claire’s face changed.
“But both twins are mine.”
Silence.
“Both embryos were ours.”
Margaret closed her eyes.
Dana said:
“Margaret.”
Claire whispered:
“You didn’t replace one embryo.”
Margaret started sobbing.
“You replaced both.”
No answer.
“You never intended to use your donor embryos.”
Margaret looked at her daughter.
“I changed my mind.”
“When?”
“The morning of transfer.”
Richard stared.
“You discarded embryos created with my sperm?”
“They were not discarded.”
“What happened to them?”
Margaret whispered:
“Returned to storage.”
Richard stepped back.
The twins had never been meant to be Richard’s.
The donor-egg story was not an accident.
Margaret had gone into the clinic intending to carry Claire and Mark’s embryos.
Then five days later she slept with Mark.
The affair had not created the twins.
It had happened after Margaret had already decided to carry his genetic children without his knowledge.
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