DREAM CHILD: A SURROGACY STORY

DREAM CHILD

CHAPTER ONE

Helen was fuming in her bedroom. She could not understand why her parents couldn’t get the point. She did not want a legal job anymore and neither did she want a husband. She just wanted to stay on her own and spend her time with kids at the nearby school. Her father wanted her to take after him and succeed at a profession but she had applied to all the law firms in New York and had gotten multiple rejection letters. She didn’t want any of that anymore. It was time for to follow after her passion and she thought that passion was with kids. She sulked angrily in bed and began moping at her phone when a text entered it. She picked it up. It was Susan.
‘Let’s get together this weekend,’ the message read.
Helen thought it was the perfect way to get away from her parents’ drama. She needed something new. She turned on her side and was asleep within minutes.

Two days later, she listened as Susan talked about a trip to Paris. Susan seemed elated about it. She was meeting someone, she said and she could not go alone in case the outing does not turn out well. Helen thought it was the perfect getaway while her parents thought about her decision to be a teacher.
‘When do we leave?’ She asked and Susan smiled.


‘How do you expect me to fund an impromptu trip to Paris?’ Peter Donnell asked his wife.
‘This is the third time she is travelling out of the country this year. And what happens to our vacation together? This is not within our budget.’ Helen’s dad complained.
‘I know honey but she needs this. That’s why she’s our daughter. And an only one at that.’
Peter adjusted his newspaper and shifted his weight on the chair.
‘You have to do this, honey’ his wife insisted.
‘I saw how she was, about not getting a job. She needs a break and who knows she might meet a man.’ She went on.
‘You are impossible,’ Peter said.
‘Well, I am set to carry my grandkids. Since we could not have another child, we certainly deserve that.’


‘When are you leaving?’ Peter asked Helen later on in the sitting room.
Helen lighted up in joy. ‘Oh thank you dad.’ She gave him a hug.
‘Anything for you darling,’ he said.
‘Just make sure you get a man,’ her mother said.
‘Oh no, mum you are impossible,’ she replied.
‘Well, yes if you can’t nail a job to please your dad, you should get a man to please me. I want those cute kids soon.’
Helen shook her head. ‘Thanks dad. I’m sure Paris would be fun,’ she said.


The trip to Paris was pleasant. They took a New York JFK flight to get there and were on the plane for seven hours. Susan was a frequent travel buddy for Helen and a childhood friend and this trip reminded Helen of the recent one they had to Ontario. Susan was chattering away while Helen was more bothered about the food served by the flight attendants. She wanted a hamburger and the attendant had told her they did not have any for today’s 8:50am flight. Helen went into a mood for an hour and Susan ignored her. She was soon cheerful again and Susan’s chattering resumed. From what Susan said, Helen had a feeling they were going to see one of Susan’s many special people. She hoped this was the right person finally.
They soon alighted into the cold Paris air and began dragging off luggage. Susan seemed to have everything sorted out this time unlike the last time when they had spent hours trying to find their way around Ontario. Paris was entirely new for Susan too but she was used to these sorts of risks. She seemed bent on dating foreigners and she had been trying to get Helen to buy into the idea to no avail. Helen was wrong to discover that Susan had nothing sorted out. In fact, she was so embarrassed that they had to stand by the roadside with their luggage for an hour waiting for Helen’s new catch.
‘Why don’t you call him,’ Helen said in frustration.
‘I am trying to! Can’t you see?!’ Susan shouted at Helen.
‘Oh, well, well, well,’ Helen said and began to whistle. ‘It appears Frank is a better catch than your new guy,’ she said.
‘Will you just shut up?’ Susan said in frustration. ‘We don’t know who the better catch is yet.’
‘We will soon find out,’ Helen said and continued to whistle.
A blonde young man soon approached him. Helen thought his beard was rather unkempt and he was not a good enough reason to have booked the flight. She was glad her dad will never find out.
‘I thought you said you guys exchanged pictures,’ she whispered to Susan.
Susan gave her a gruffly smile before turning to their intruder.
‘Hey, you must be Susan,’ the man said in Helen’s direction. ‘Oh, you look so gorgeous. Just the same as in the photos. I already told my friends a lot about you. They would be glad to meet you.’
‘Like seriously?’ Susan nodded.
‘Well, I’m glad I’m not Susan,’ Helen said with a grin.
‘Shut up,’ Susan nudged her and began walking off in the opposite direction.
‘Where the hell are you going?’ Helen ran after her.
The new catch was perplexed. ‘Are you kidding me?’ He said to himself. ‘I thought she was Susan.’
‘Hey wait, wait,’ he shouted after them.
Susan had called the next taxi and was asking the driver where the nearest hotel was.
‘Are you kidding me?’ Helen called after her.
‘No, I’m not,’ she replied with a scowl.

Thirty minutes later, they had checked into a hotel at the heart of town and Helen thought it was best to take a shower and a nap. In the evening, they strolled to the hotel café to get a quick meal and Helen noticed the gaze from the other side of the hall. When the six feet two brunette man approached, she couldn’t say no to a drink although Susan thought it was a bad idea. They had a nice time with their new company though and did not say no to a time out with him since they had no real reason for being out here in Paris.

Charles was in New York to visit Helen some months later and they got married in the summer of the next year. Mrs. Donnell was glad the grandkids were on the way.

CHAPTER TWO

When she had to console her daughter two years later, she stopped stressing over the grandkids and decided to look after Helen more.

Charles wanted a son and was expressive about it. Helen thought she ought to give him that. She was unhappy that she was incapable.
‘You are perfect babe, I know you are’ Charles would tell her every time.
She just wished that was true. He wrapped her in his arms some more.

Helen cringed a little. It wasn’t quite fun but it was what they needed. She laid there quietly as the doctor inserted Charles’ sperm into her. She prayed silently that this would work. Once the doctor was done, Charles had his arms open to take her into a hug. They drove home silently each hoping that this was their solution at last.
‘We did the right thing honey, I’m sure this would work,’ Charles took her hand and squeezed them. She smiled.

It did not. She went pale as soon as she saw the blood on the sheets one morning. She was horrified. It was happening again and Charles won’t get his baby boy. Charles ran into the room on hearing her scream. He was just getting set for work but that obviously had to be postponed now.
‘I’m sorry honey,’ he grabbed her in his arms. ‘I’m really sorry.’
Helen let out the tears and soaked his shirt with them. She was going to cry for months on end. She really dreaded the possibility.

She gazed longingly at a mother and her toddler as she and Charles sat in the park one day. She wondered why they couldn’t have that. What precisely was the problem? Why couldn’t she hold a pregnancy? Why did she have to lose them each and every time? When she turned to look at Charles, she knew it was time. They would have to try something else. She wished she could just rest. Maybe her eggs were just bad.

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Charles didn’t think so though. He thought there was nothing wrong with her. There couldn’t be. He insisted they tried In Vitro Fertilization. Helen dreaded the idea.
‘Why won’t you try it?’ Susan said with concern. ‘It’s an absolutely great idea and a less stressful one at that. Less stressful than actually carrying the baby if you ask me.’
‘I’d be glad to undergo the stress,’ Helen said. ‘Who’s to say an incubator baby would be healthy? If we could just keep trying, we might get it right soon.’
‘I think you are just putting undue pressure on yourself sweetheart. People have used incubators to get themselves a baby and it has worked out fine. Who’s to say yours wouldn’t be in that percentage. Save your marriage, make your husband happy, save yourself from emotional trauma by going for this girl. You got this.’ Susan encouraged.

Helen tossed the juice in the glass that she held and looked off into the distance.

CHAPTER THREE

‘There are other methods you could try,’ the doctor explained. ‘Having a baby is not a straight road. There are several ways to get there,’ he encouraged.
Helen looked over at her husband. The doctor had just told him that she had no ovaries. When she asked him what the doctor said, he changed the subject but she could not ignore the expression in his eyes. She knew it was something really bad. They were standing there in the hospital hallway expressionless when he grabbed her in his arms and patted her hair.
‘Let’s go home,’ he said.
He did not break the news to her until after dinner.  He seemed ready for her reaction though. He simply handed her the test result and she looked at the paper in more confusion before he said, ‘we cannot have children honey unless we use a surrogate mother.’
‘What do you mean? Honey, I don’t get this. I could take the IVF but not this!’ She screamed.
‘Calm down babe, we got this under control,’ he dropped his fork and picked up a tissue.
‘I’m sorry,’ Helen said.
‘Well,’ he began explaining ‘the doctor said you have no ovaries,’ he finished.
‘I can’t believe this,’ she said ‘are you telling me I can’t have babies?’ She began sobbing.
Charles walked up to her, gathered her in his arms and carried her to the bedroom.

To assuage her feelings, he arranged for another test to be conducted but the results came out the same. Helen began to emaciate. She stopped going to work, would not eat her meals and Charles was generally getting stressed. One day, he suggested to her that they should forget the whole idea of having children.
‘But then you will not have your baby boy,’ Helen sobbed.
They were sitting in their garden and had a bottle of wine set in front of them although they could not enjoy it.  Charles patted Helen’s hair gently and they shared some quiet moments.
‘The surrogacy would be fine,’ he said. ‘We could take a shot at this, pay the woman off, get her to sign some legal documents and then have her leave once the baby was born.’
Helen sobbed gently and Charles patted her head some more.

The next day, they went to see a legal practitioner, Charles’ best friend, who took them through the legal aspects of a surrogacy deal and told them that he would get the documents ready. Helen heaved a sigh and was trying so hard to calm the inner storm within her. It was going to be a lot allowing a stranger into their home. But she has got this. They went through the web together searching for organizations that the surrogates worked with. She was glad Charles loved her enough to do this for her. Charles felt that getting from this side to the side of fatherhood was a lot of work. He was prepared to go through this with Helen. He wouldn’t want it any other way.

CHAPTER FOUR

The lady appeared pleasant. She seemed to understand all that was required of her too. She had been doing this for long. The woman at the Surrogate Mothers Home had assured them that they had nothing to worry about. They explained the terms of the agreement to her carefully and she agreed and signed the documents. She then moved in with them. Helen prepared the guest house for her so that she could be comfortable and each day she checked up on her to see that she was properly carrying their baby.

When Mrs. Peter visited them however, she was slightly disappointed. She asked Helen if this was the only way. Helen nodded solemnly.
‘Oh no, honey how will you cope with such a child?’ She asked worriedly.
‘I’ll cope. I have to. Charles needs a baby boy,’ she began to sob.
‘Oh dear, oh my baby,’ her mother grabbed her in her arms and began petting her.

Helen was fighting an internal war and Charles was very aware of that. He tried his best to look after her. He was doing a good job but he wasn’t to know the extent of Helen’s internal war until one day when she flared up over breakfast. They were eating along with Danielle when Charles asked how she felt and if the baby was kicking. Helen would not talk to him for days. When she finally spoke, it was to say that Charles was showing affection toward their surrogate.
‘How do you mean?’ Charles asked.
‘You show her a lot of care. You no longer notice me much. You are always worried about whether or not she’s eating and how she is doing and that’s not going down well with me!’ She screamed.
‘Well, have it your way. She’s carrying our baby! What do you want me to do? Maltreat her? You want her to miscarry the baby? I don’t get you,’ he screamed back and Helen burst into tears.
The next morning, she was nowhere to be found. Charles checked her parents’ home but could not find her. He checked at Susan’s but could not find her either. He took to drinking and had Danielle begin to make passes at him.

Helen was now at the nursery school she had always wanted to teach. She was surrounded with the kids and they were all chanting rhymes when someone walked in the door. She looked over and there was Charles with a bouquet in his hands. Susan had told her to go back home and not allow Danielle to take over her house but she wouldn’t listen. Danielle was in her final trimester. Charles told her to please come back home and when she saw the sincerity in his eyes, she went for a hug. Charles then left the caring for her to do. He became more withdrawn and cared less about the baby. For the sake of peace, Helen could do the caring and make sure the baby was fine. Danielle seemed eager to deliver. She gave the impression that she could not wait for the baby to come out. It appeared nobody could.

In late June, Charles and Helen rushed Danielle to the hospital to welcome their baby. The doctor said that she was short of blood and after all the running around, Charles had to donate some of his blood. It took him an hour to talk Helen into it. He explained to her that if he did not do this, they would never have their baby boy. Helen sobbed and watched as he went off to donate his blood. Hours later, Danielle was okay and had resumed labor. She seemed weak and the doctors had to invest so much time to get her to push. When the lead doctor came out of the ward to announce Jason’s arrival, Charles could not hide his excitement. He was finally a father. He noticed Helen wasn’t so happy so he gathered her into an embrace and took her to the hospital café. He wasn’t ready to exchange his marriage for a baby. He wasn’t ready to let the baby go either. His was a rough journey to fatherhood.


Helen was standing by the door as Danielle packed her things. She did not know Helen was there. When she raised her head, she was pleasantly surprised to see her.
‘I’d be leaving today,’ she said with a smile.
‘I wish you all the luck in the world,’ Helen said and handed her a cheque.
‘Just a gift from me,’ she said before Danielle would say anything.
‘Take good care of him,’ Danielle said and gave a dull smile.
Helen nodded.



Jason’s nurse seemed to like all things baby. She settled into the nursery that Helen and Charles had created and seemed unbothered about the blue paintings and teddy bears all over the place. Mrs. Donnell was happy too that she finally had a grandchild and Mr. Donnell felt that Jason would grow up to become the professional he always wanted.
Once Jason was weaned, Charles picked him from the nursery and laid him by Helen. He couldn’t be happier. They were now parents and he was a dad to the most amazing kid. He patted Helen’s hair while she wrapped her arms on sleeping Jason and gave her a kiss.

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Prudence Onaah is a creative writer and CEO of Prudent Pens where she takes writing and editing projects from clients and helps them get their book ideas in print. She is a sensational writer who has penned down books on the often overlooked societal issues in her country. She discusses these issues with fellow citizens in her book club: Book Club for Societal Change and then goes on to offer their recommendations to the reading public. Writing for her is a passion and the most authentic form of self expression.