"And there's nothing they can do?" 28-year-old Maya Hummel-Anderson Leonard asked her 27-year-old half sister Olive St. James. Maya and her husband Jeff were hosting Olive and her husband David for lunch.
Olive shook her head. "No. My uterus is incompatible with pregnancy so any pregnancies I have in the future will end the same as the ones I already had."
"God, Oli - I'm so sorry," Maya said, not knowing how else to respond.
Pregnancy was an interesting topic of conversation in Maya and Olive's families. Olive's mother, Rachel, had been the egg donor and surrogate mother for Maya - Maya's dads Kurt and Blaine were her longtime friends. Rachel got pregnant with Olive when Maya was just two months old. When Olive was two, Rachel and her husband (aka Olive's father) Jesse started trying to have another baby. It wasn't until Olive was thirteen however that her sister Clementine was born.
Despite growing up in different homes and with different parents, Maya and Olive were very close - Maya and Clementine were as well. Maya and Olive fought for a good portion of their childhood but eventually bonded and became inseparable. Rachel and Maya also shared a unique relationship - Rachel being Maya's biological mother, but also because both women had been conceived with the help of an egg donor and surrogate and born to gay fathers. Shelby, Rachel's biological mother, was still going strong and an active part of her grandchildren's lives.
"So Olive and I are looking at finding a surrogate," David said. "We found a place online and were going to arrange meetings with some of the candidates. We had just two embryos made - as much as we'd love to have two kids - if we can have just one successful pregnancy and bring home one baby - that will be…that would be a dream come true."
"Don't…don't go do the interviews," Maya said slowly.
"What?" Olive asked, as she and David looked at Maya quizzically.
"Don't waste your time," Maya started tearing up. "I'll do it, Oli. I'll have your baby."
"Maya…maybe you and Jeff should discuss -" Olive started.
"We already have," Maya cut in quickly. "I mean, not about you specifically. But Jeff and I don't want kids, as you know - and just…given what your mom did for my dads and what Shelby did for her dads…I've known for years I wanted to be a surrogate - whether it was for a gay couple or straight couple - I just want to help people become parents. And there's no couple I'd rather help do that than my sister and my brother-in-law."
"Maya…" Olive said. She looked at David who had the exact same facial expression she did.
The two sat staring at each other for a minute before Olive stood up and Maya followed suit. They gave each other a hug that lasted for a very long time.