The Billionaires Hired Baby Mother: When the wife and surrogate are two different people (6 page)

Melissa’s family was no different. Her older sister had the
perfect two children that were the apple of their grandfather’s
eye. Her younger brother’s wife was five months pregnant.
Sometimes Roy wondered what they could have done wrong to deserve
this. He didn’t blame Melissa, not in the least, but it made
zero sense to him that her siblings obviously had no problem
procreating.

And so with Kate’s nagging voice occupying his mind for the
rest of the morning, Roy decided that he would take matters into his
own hands. It wasn’t like Melissa hadn’t already agreed,
he would just speed up the process a bit. He picked up his phone and
dialed his secretary.

“
Carolyn, I need to take care of something
personal. I’ll be taking the rest of the day. Transfer all my
calls to my brother.”

His next call was to the clinic. Thirty minutes later Roy pulled up
to the clinic and was shown to the same room where he began to view
the files. Part of him knew he should really tell Melissa what he was
up to but another part of him thought she would go nuts if she knew.
One thing was certain in Roy’s mind, if he found the perfect
woman Melissa would be ready to start the process.

It was almost three hours later when Roy came across a profile.
Henrietta Fraser. She was beautiful. Roy clicked on her case number
and scanned her file. She was perfect. Mixed heritage just like
Melissa, twenty eight, perfect health profile, non-smoker, social
drinker. Best of all she was already a mother which meant she had
successfully brought a pregnancy to term. He hit the intercom for
Allison.

Allison came into the room with a bright smile.

“
May I help you with something Mr. Gardner?”
she asked pleasantly.

“
Allison. I think I found our surrogate.
What is the next step?” Roy asked eagerly.

Allison was surprised. She didn’t know what to make of it that
Mr. Gardner had wanted to view profiles without his wife. Now it
seemed he had chosen one without her. When she had met the Gardners
she had liked Mr. Gardner right away. He seemed to be excited to
embark on this journey. Mrs. Gardner, she seemed a bit distant. Not
exactly cold but not welcoming either. Maybe she preferred to not be
a part of the process. In either case, it wasn’t Allison’s
place to judge.

“
Well the next step is forwarding the file
to Dr. Klein. Then allowing the potential surrogate to view your
profile and determine if she would like to work with you. In your
case, where a donor egg is used we don’t need to worry about
blood type match so she can view your profile as early as tomorrow.
After that we set up a meeting here at the clinic before any final
decisions are made. Finally, you bring in your legal team to work out
the contract.”

Allison must have seen the look on Roy's face because she added, “I
know it must be so overwhelming.

“
Very. Can I take this file home to my
wife?” Roy asked.

“
For privacy reasons, you cannot. But I can
set up a time for you both to come in tomorrow to review it.”

“
That’s perfect. We’ll be here.”

*****

Roy didn’t know what to make of it. He didn’t expect
Melissa to respond this way.

“
So you went. Without me?” she hissed.

“
Mel I don’t understand why you are so
angry. You said reviewing the files made you exhausted. I just wanted
to make things easier.”

“
Maybe it would just be easier if you did
this on your own. How about that?” Melissa shot back.

“
How can you say that? I want this family
with you,” Roy responded.

“
Then why did you go without me?”
Melissa asked, clearly hurt.

“
I was talking to Kate and…”
Roy trailed off.

“
Of course you were,” Melissa fumed.
“And I’m sure she had another opinion about our life.”

“
Mel. I’m sorry. I don’t know
what I was thinking. It was stupid of me. Please forgive me.”

“
Fine. It’s done. So this woman...does
it look like she’ll be a good fit?” Melissa asked.

“
I think she is just who we are looking
for.”

Melissa took a moment to reflect on his words. In her heart, she knew
Roy wasn’t trying to be malicious and honestly she was relieved
to not have to pour over profiles, trying to find the mother of her
child. She tested that phrase in her mind. Her child. She had to
admit she liked the sound of that. Her child. Their baby. It had
seemed impossible before. She had wanted to give up, but now that
they might have found their surrogate it seemed real to her. Was this
woman the key? Could they have a family?

What time do we have to be there tomorrow?”

“
At ten. I love you Melissa.”

“
I love you too,” Melissa replied.

The next morning Roy and Melissa made their way to the clinic to
review Henrietta Fraser’s file. Melissa agreed on paper
Henrietta Fraser seemed perfect. The next step was meeting with Dr.
Klein. Roy was excited and nervous all at the same time. Even Melissa
beamed in the chair next to him. He held her hand tightly. Everything
was falling into place.

“
Roy. Melissa.” Dr. Klein said
entering the room and taking a seat at his desk.

“
Dr. Klein,” they said in unison.

“
Congratulations you two. You have made the
first step into becoming parents. We will contact the surrogate and
set up a meeting as soon as it's convenient for the three of you.”

They discussed legal matters and Dr. Klein answered their many
questions. By the time Roy kissed Melissa goodbye and drove away from
the clinic, he was on an emotional high. Melissa seemed happy and
that was all that mattered.

*****

When her cellphone rang on Thursday morning, Ettie was surprised to
see that it was the fertility clinic calling. It was Allison the
receptionist.

“
Hello,” she answered.

“
Ms. Fraser. Hello this is Allison from
Bloomfield Fertility. I’m sorry to disturb you but I was
wondering if you could possibly come into our office tomorrow?”

“
Is everything okay?” Ettie asked,
hearing tension in the receptionist’s voice.

“
Everything is fine Ms. Fraser. It is a
private matter that the doctor would like to discuss in person at the
office. Are you able to make it?” Allison questioned.

“
Yes of course, I will be there first
thing,” Ettie responded.

Ettie was terrified. Allison had sounded strained. She had gotten the
all clear from the clinic. Had something happened? Did they find an
abnormality in her tests? Thinking of her mother the first thought
that entered her mind was cancer. But then why was she worrying.
Allison hadn’t said anything was wrong. She was simply being
paranoid. Maybe they had found a match and this was simply their
standard procedure. She was being silly. If she was telling the truth
the thought of being matched was even more terrifying. Then she would
have to talk to Andrea.

When she arrived at the clinic a little after nine am the next
morning Allison was waiting to greet her.

“
Welcome Ms. Fraser,” she said with a
bright smile. “Dr. Klein will see you now.”

Allison was shown to the office where Dr. Klein stood to greet her
warmly.

“
Ms. Fraser. Wonderful to see you again,”
he said extending his hand.

“
Dr. Klein. Please call me Henrietta,”
Ettie said shaking his hand.

He indicated for her to have a seat which Ettie took gratefully. The
uncertainty was killing her and her legs felt heavy.

“
Henrietta. There is a couple who is
interested in you becoming their surrogate. There is just one thing
we need to discuss,” Dr. Klein stated.

“
Is there a problem?” Ettie frowned.

“
No. Not a problem. During the screening
process you indicated that your preference was as a gestational
surrogate. This particular couple are looking for a traditional
surrogate.”

“
I see. I don’t know what to say Dr.
Klein. I really had not thought of that as an option,” Ettie
said, surprised.

“
That is completely understandable. I know
that it is a big decision.”

“
So essentially they would be using my egg?”
Ettie asked.

“
Yes. You would provide a donor egg.”

“
And the father?”

“
In certain instances donor sperm would also
be used. In this particular case the client would be the biological
father.”

“
And what about the baby? I would be the
biological mother. What role would I play in this child’s
life?”

“
Henrietta, I realize this is a very
complicated situation. They would want you to terminate all rights to
the child.”

“
I...I don’t know what to say. I have
to think about this Dr. Klein,” Ettie said, her mind already
working.

“
I understand. Please take your time. If you
would like you can take a look at their profile before you leave.”

“
Yes,” Ettie heard herself saying. “I
think I would like that.”

Minutes later, Ettie was looking at the profile of Roy and Melissa
Gardner. They were a lovely couple. They were young, well educated
and both owned successful businesses. Obviously they could provide a
child a wonderful life. But could she really walk away from a child
that was part her? She couldn’t do it with Lily, was against
putting her up for adoption. Wasn’t this essentially the same
thing? No. It wasn’t she thought. This child would be
guaranteed two loving parents, an uncertainty with her first
pregnancy. Ettie decided to meet them. She called for Allison and
asked her to arrange the meeting.

*****

That Friday, Ettie waited nervously in the conference room. She
smoothed her hair down and checked her appearance in her mirror for
the third time. She didn’t know why she was so anxious. A few
minutes later Allison appeared followed by Roy and Melissa Gardner.
They both smiled shyly and she smiled shyly back at them.

“
Thank you for meeting with us,” Roy
said his hand extended.

Ettie shook their hands and they took seats around the small table.

“
I’m Roy and this is my wife Melissa,”
Roy said.

“
I’m Henrietta,” Ettie said her
voice catching. She took a sip of her water.

“
We are so honored to meet you Henrietta,”
Melissa replied. “My, but you are gorgeous,” she added
nervously.

“
I’ll leave you three to get
acquainted,” Allison said pulling the door shut behind her.

“
Henrietta I just want to thank you again.
What you are agreeing to do, hopefully for us but whatever you
decide, this is the most incredible, generous thing anyone could ever
do,” Roy said.

Ettie smiled reassuringly at Roy and Melissa. Her emotions were all
over the place and she wasn’t sure what to say next.

“
Are there any questions that you wanted to
ask me?” she said finally.

“
What made you decide to become a surrogate?
If that’s not too personal,” Roy asked.

Ettie thought about that. Sure it would help secure Lily’s
future but that wasn’t the only reason that she had made her
final decision. It was Gina, Abbie and Jordan. She took a deep
breath.

“
My best friend wanted to start a family.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t go about that in a traditional way.
But when I see the joy her son has brought to her life. The way she
loves that little boy. She may not be his biological mother but she
is most definitely his mom. If I could do that for someone, I would
feel incredibly blessed.”

“
We saw in your file that you have a child.
How was your pregnancy?” Melissa inquired.

Ettie remembered that Melissa was not able to have a child at the
last moment so instead of gushing about what a gift it was to have
Lily and how she loved being pregnant, she thought carefully about
her answer.

“
It was a smooth pregnancy,” she
began. “My daughter was very active, and fortunately not a very
long birth, she came fairly quickly.”

“
Did you have any cravings?” Roy
asked. “Melissa loved strawberries…” Melissa
stiffened slightly next to him. “Sorry honey,” he said
taking her hand. “I didn’t mean to.”

“
No. I’m fine,” Melissa said
quickly flashing a forced smile.

“
Well with my daughter, I really craved
coconut. Coconut everything, water, candy, bread, cookies. I even
liked the scent. I bought candles, air fresheners. They funny thing
is it went away after she was born and she hates it,” Ettie
said trying to ease the tension.

“
What do your friends and family think about
you becoming a surrogate?” Melissa questioned.

“
Well to be honest it’s just my
mother, my daughter and I. But my friends have been really
supportive. Especially my best friend, I mentioned her before.”

“
That’s great that you have a good
support system. Melissa and I will be there for you as well, not to
be presumptuous. I mean if this works for you we’d like to be
there. Doctor appointments, ultrasounds. We would like to be as
involved as possible.”

“
That’s good. I like that. I want you
to be involved,” Ettie said. She was warming up to the two.
They seemed to really want this baby, which made her decision easier.