Chapter 1: The Conundrum

Eve was 30, married to Jason Wilson who was 32. They had met at work where Jason was an IT administrator and Eve was an Executive Secretary to one of the corporate Vice Presidents. They had a good loving marriage, but there was one missing element – children. After many years in which Eve failed to conceive, tests confirmed that her Fallopian tubes had scars from an earlier infection that prevented conception. She had no hope of having a child of her own.

Eve and Jason talked about adoption, but Jason insisted that he must be the biological father of the child because he was an only child and without him his parent’s bloodline would end. So, Eve agreed to look for a surrogate where Jason would provide the sperm.

The problem was the cost. After researching the issue online and speaking with a surrogacy agency, they found that the total cost of using a surrogate could be more than $50,000. That simply was out of reach for Jason and Eve on their salaries. They were still paying off student loans as well as their regular living expenses, including the mortgage on their recently purchased house.

And beyond the huge financial outlay, there was always the risk that after carrying the child for nine months, the surrogate would renege on the agreement and decide to keep the baby. When that happens, efforts to enforce the contract lead to litigation, creating more costs and more often than not the baby stays with the birth mother.

So Jason and Eve were stuck. They couldn’t have a child on their own, the couldn’t consider adoption, and they couldn’t afford a surrogate. There seemed to be no way around the conundrum.

Before meeting Eve, Jason had a college girlfriend, Isabella (Bella for short), who still lived in the same town and who still kept up friendly contact with Jason. At 32, Bella was still single. Even after 10 years she still carried a torch for Jason.

Eve wasn’t thrilled that Jason remained friends with an ex, but she knew she couldn’t stop him. It didn’t help Eve’s self-esteem that Bella was prettier than she was and she and Jason shared so much history as college sweethearts. Eve felt a bit like Princess Diana who was in competition with Camilla. But, unlike Charles, Eve was confident that Jason was devoted to his marriage and didn’t fear that he would stray.

One evening, as Eve prepared for bed at her dressing table, Jason came up behind her, kissed her neck and said:

“Sweetheart, I spoke this afternoon with Bella and told her about your problem in conceiving.”

“Damn Jason! Why did you share that with her? That is private between us. I hate it when you involve her in our lives like that. You share too much with her.”

“I did it for you, Eve. I told her about our problem, and I asked her if she knew anyone who would be a surrogate for us. I was trying to “network.”

Eve stood up and pushed Jason away – a hard angry push.

“You had no right to involve her.”

“Hold on, sweetheart. Bella can be the answer to our problem. She said that she didn’t know anyone who would be a surrogate, but she said that she herself is willing to be the surrogate and to give up the child for you to adopt. It will be ours. We can trust her because the last thing she wants in her life is to be tied down to a child while she is single.”

“How much money does she want to bear your child?”

“Our child!” And it is for free.”

“How is it free?”

“She only wants room and board here. She would give up her apartment and the money she saves will be her only compensation. She will stay on her employer’s health insurance, so we don’t have to buy a new maternity policy for her. It won’t cost us anything for her to live here with us – she can stay in the spare bedroom. The additional expense for her food will be just a small addition to our groceries budget. After the baby is born, she promises to leave and go back out on her own with a fatter bank account. I see that as a win-win for all of us.”