Quadruple Duty: All or Nothing

I was still shaking all over. The doctor noticed it and leaned forward to comfort me. I could see oceans of kindness in his eyes. The same kindness I was sure he’d extended to his other patients as well.

“Ms. Madsen, most women who come in here have problems staying pregnant. Their body chemistry is off, or their uterine str

ucture is inconsistent with maintaining a healthy pregnancy. You don’t have that problem. And that’s a very good thing.”

I stared back at him blankly. But now there was a flutter of hope in my stomach, fighting its way out.

“In some cases the problem lies with the man, too,” the doctor went on. “Although in your case the sperm… samples…,” he paused, glancing from Ryan to Jason, from Dakota to Kyle, “we received from your potential donors all exhibited healthy counts and motility.” He flipped through a few more pages. “In some cases, even above average levels.”

Dakota suddenly looked interested. “Above average?” he asked, squinting down at the desk. “Which one was—”

“Either way,” Doctor Hill went on, “we’re getting you pregnant. And I don’t normally say that because I don’t like to give false hope, but yours is a best-case scenario and—”

I jumped out of my chair so quickly it startled everyone in the room. In all the time it took to blink I was hugging the man — hugging him across the huge expanse of his desk. Squeezing him against my shoulder while tears of happiness ran down my cheeks.

“Thank you…” I sobbed.

“It’s okay,” the little man laughed awkwardly. But there was nothing awkward in the way he hugged me back. “It’s going to be okay…”

It took a moment to settle back down, to realize the magnitude of what just happened. My four beautiful fiancés were smiling. Not just smiling, but grinning uncontrollably.

“When you harvest her eggs…” Jason was saying. “You can separate them out? Pair them with different—”

Doctor Hill already knew where he was going. He folded his slender hands on the table and nodded. “Yes.”

“And what happens to—”

“The embryos?”

All four guys nodded at once.

“They’re left to grow for five days, and the healthiest ones weeded out,” said the doctor. “Then comes implantation — in your case no more than one or two eggs at a time — and the rest of the embryos are kept frozen for future use.”

Dakota looked hesitant as he spoke. “So… uh…”

“Spit it out, Mr. Bradley,” the doctor smiled. “I have a feeling I know what you’re asking.”

“So you can keep the donor’s sperm — I mean the donor’s embryos — separate from one other? Like you’ll know which ones you’d be implanting?”

The doctor smiled knowingly. “In most cases there’s just one donor of course,” he said. “But to answer your question, yes. We have had cases where a patient freezes embryos fertilized by more than one sperm donor. And yes,” he chuckled. “We keep them very separate. The patient can choose when she gets pregnant, as well as with whom she gets pregnant.”

The guys looked absolutely dumbstruck, each in his own adorable way. As my gaze traveled from one to the other, my heart was soaring with love for them.

“Of course this is none of my business,” the doctor said, putting his hands up defensively. “But if I might speak freely again?”

Jason nodded. “Go for it doc.”

The old man’s mouth curled back into a smile. “What I think you’re looking to do will be no problem at all.” He turned back to me. “Provided you get started relatively soon, of course,” he winked. “After all, there are four of them.”

The tears flowed again, and this time the doctor handed me a tissue. I could only imagine the number of tissues this kind little man handed out in his lifetime, and for much worse scenarios than mine. All at once I felt very, very lucky.

“Make a consultation appointment when you’re ready to begin,” the doctor said, gathering up my file, “and we can discuss the specifics.” He smiled one last time. “But be prepared to be pregnant four to six months after that.”

I nodded, and my head felt like it weighed absolutely nothing. It was like some colossal, crushing weight had been finally lifted from my body.

One by one we filed out into the hallway, each of the guys shaking the doctor’s hand so vigorously I thought they’d take his arm off. It was Dakota who turned around at the end, just before the man began walking back.

“Doc, we love you man,” he grinned happily. “But quick word of advice?”