Surrogate
Chapter 4 Of Different Options and Difficult Questions
Three years later
Jane bites her lower lip as she looks over the small mountain of pamphlets, files, and books spread over her dinning room table. Months ago when she and Charles first started talking about the options available to them she never thought there would be so much different kinds of information they would be handed to considered.
It started out innocently enough, a bill from the fertility center for the storage of their remaining embryos. She and Charles sat across from each other in the little breakfast table in their kitchen with the open letter between them and finally talked about starting a family again.
The next few weeks they slowly researched what options could be availed to them online (and where so terribly confused), before Charles finally called Will Darcy and invited him to dinner.
Jane sat at dinner wringing her hands together and asking a million questions to her husbands best friend and her old fertility doctor.
They have two options (that they learn can be broken down into a thousand little ones), they can look into adoption or a surrogate.
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Then they visit three different adoption agencies who tell them it could be anywhere from a year to five for them to get a child, which depend on so many questions Jane can feel her head spinning. Do they want a closed or open adoption? Would they want to adopt from overseas or nationally? Have they considered fostering kids and adopting an older child through the system? Are they interested in a boy or a girl? Newborn, infant, toddler, child? How much are they able to spend to get the process started?
But then there is the question of the six embryos still frozen, the ones that weren't used in her last round of IVF (that they were going to use for their next child if she could still have them).
Will recommends a clinic he's worked with before, a few strings pulled and they have an appointment tomorrow morning, and now Jane is looking over every piece of information they have been handed up to this point trying to figure out what option might be best for them.
Charles comes home to find his wife in the middle of all of this confusion and pulls her away from it and into their bedroom, and he tells her that he loves her and they will know what's right for them when the times comes.
They are shown into a room with floor to ceiling windows and comfortable chairs by staff that smiles at them and constantly remind them that if they have any questions please feel free to ask.
Charles is holding to tightly to her hand that Jane has to be the one to lean her forehead against his own and remind him to breathe.
"Hello Dr. and Mrs. Bingley, my name is Dr. Sarah Grey" says a women in her early fifties as she comes in to the room, she has a short blonde bob and warm brown eyes. She shakes their hand before sitting across from them, opening a file with Jane's name on the top and placing a white binder next to it.
Sarah Grey explains the process of surrogacy to them, she smiles kindly as they talk about finding a perfect match for them who will help them carry their child. They discuss thawing their frozen embryos and the process of implanting them on the woman they chose and how they will be there for every step of the pregnancy, how if their embryos don't survive the process they can look at egg donors. They talk about the contracts both parties will sign and how it can be personalized to every situation. They are handed a binder full of pictures of smiling women who have been specially selected for them based on the information they were provided. Sarah tells them to look over the bios of the women and if they are interested in meeting any of them to please let her know and she will arrange everything for them.
They go home with the binder tucked protectively into Jane's arm and read carefully every bit of the limited information given.
Three weeks later they have their name on two list at adoption agencies and meet three perfectly wonderful young women who would be more than happy to help them get their child, but there is a connection missing with each of them that Jane can't explain. Jane shares all this overwhelming information with her favorite sister who listens quietly and tells her dear, dear Janey that things will turn out perfectly. Her other sisters encourage her as well and her mother is all nervous energy about the thought of a new grand baby.
Dr. Sarah Grey compiles a new binder for them and let's them know that they also have the option of trying to find a close friend or family member who would be wiling to do this for them. They go home with a new binder of smiling women and a list of qualifications needed to be a surrogate.
Jane and Elizabeth are having lunch a few days later when Jane shares this new information with her younger sister.
"A list?" Lizzy asks, pushing her salad around to find a crouton.
"Yes. It's things like good health, appropriate age, financial stability, and they have to have a child of their own"
"I guess that makes sense" Lizzy answers thoughtfully, checking things out as Jane says them.
The topic changes to their mothers latest nervous fit and how their younger sisters are doing, to Jolie who is begging for more dance lessons.
When they are walking towards their different cars to part ways (Jane to her dance studio for a class and Lizzy to pick up her daughter from school), Lizzy pulls her sister close and whispers against Jane's pretty blonde hair that she would do it.
Jane pulls back a little shocked "I wasn't implying.."
Elizabeth cuts her off with a shake of her head "I know Janey, I'm just letting you know that if you can't find anyone who you can connect with... I think... I think I could do this for you"
"Oh Liz" Jane whispers, tears in her eyes as she pulls the shorter woman against her "you're too kind"
When Jane gets home she tells Charles about her earlier conversation with her sister while she cooks dinner.
"We couldn't ask that of Lizzy" he says, concern evident on his face as he fills a glass of wine for each of them.
"I know this is a huge thing we would ask of her, but I have to admit I've been thinking about it since I first read that list Dr. Grey gave us. There isn't anyone I could trust more with this than her"
"I know Jane, but we have to consider this carefully. How would this affect our relationship with her after? How would she cope with caring our child and them giving it away?" He's leaning against the counter staring at his wife who's biting her lower lip like she always does when she is worried.
"She would always be part of our child's life no matter what"
Charles sighs and runs a hand through his wavy red hair, it all does make perfect sense on theory, but he can't help but think of what it's and he is so so worried that what if it doesn't work out this time too? He doesn't think his sweet beautiful wife could handle it to get so get a child but lose her sister.
"Why don't we invite Lizzy and Darcy over and see if between all of us we can cover all possible angles of this?"
"Why Will?" Jane asks, not with any malice but out of sheer curiosity as to why her husbands best friend would need to be part of the discussion.
"Darcie is our fertility doctor, there are a lot of things involved in this that I don't know the full extent of. I think it would be good to have him here if she has any questions we may not be able not answer"
"Are you sure? They haven't always been in the friendliest of terms"
"That was years ago, I'm sure they are able to be in the same room without killing each other now" Charles says with a smile as he presses a kiss against his wife's lips. "What's the worse that can happen?"
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So... It's been a while hasn't it?
I'm so sorry for the very, very long wait. I have had the whole outline to this story done since before I even started writing it, but for some reason I was never really able to write it. I got a sudden bout of inspiration after re-reading it and all the wonderful reviews it has received to I've decided to give it another go and really work on it. I hope that there are still people interested in it, so please, please leave your thoughts on it.
This is also the last big time jump that will happen in this story, there will be a lot of what happened in the past between Lizzy and Darcy starting in a chapter or two. I also apologize for any grammar or spelling errors, I typed this all on my iPad because I was afraid if I waited till I was on my computer I would lose the inspiration. I will go back within the next few days and try to fix them.
Till then, please review.
GabbyAbby
