I never thought I'd get pregnant. I'd been trying with my husband for almost three years when new neighbors moved in across the street and we invited them over that fateful evening.

John and Kristine were your average looking couple, he was nice enough looking that -- in my mind's eye -- I had him undressed and in bed with me. I know my husband Andy was imagining guy things about Kristine.

But what really changed things for Andy and me that evening was that Kristine knew a guy who said he could guarantee a pregnancy for any woman who still had her ovaries and that he was really reasonable priced. Kristine said that her friend wouldn't tell her the particulars but that she was pregnant after only one session at the fertility clinic.

I had just turned 35 and Andy was three months away from 40 and our bio-clocks were spinning pretty fast. Up until three years ago when we started trying for a baby we'd always been too busy and now that we hadn't had any success things between us were becoming strained.

We'd gone to the doctor and apparently my husband's sperm count wasn't all that great and to make matters worse, my immune system was a killer when it came to his sperm. What few little squiggelys that made it as far as my womb; my immune system cannibalized.

So you might understand why I was interested in what Kristine had to say about her friend. Andy and I don't make tons on money, he's an auto mechanic at Pep Boys and I work as a secretary at a three man accounting firm, so when she said that this clinic had "reasonable" prices my ears perked up.

Kristine promised to ask her friend to call me and sure enough I got a call the very next evening. The lady on the other end of the phone said that she indeed had conceived a child after only one session at the clinic and that it had only cost $1000.00. She wasn't sure that the procedure was for everyone but that it had been very effective for her.

I asked her what she meant but she refused to tell me any details but she did give me the phone number for the clinic. I called them the very next morning.

Looking back I should have been a bit more skeptical about the whole thing, but I was a bit desperate to have a child and I think at that time I was prepared to do just about anything to get pregnant. If I had only known, I might not have been so eager.

The voice on the other end of the phone was pleasant and she sounded like a professional. She told me that I would have to pay up front and sign a disclaimer that relinquished any right to sue for malpractice, or pain and suffering because of the procedure. She said this was a precaution required to keep the price down. If they had to worry about dissatisfied clients, then the price would have to go up substantially.

I still don't know why I did it. Maybe it was the attractive guy in the smartly cut business suit who came to the house that evening to help us with the paperwork. Or maybe it was the confidence of the woman who I'd talked to on the phone that morning. She seemed so positive that I'd get a baby from this procedure. She had said that almost 90% of all women who they served got pregnant from just one procedure.

Whatever the reason I signed those papers, I did so with the expectation that I would be taken the very next afternoon. It was amazing, to be scheduled so fast, I'd heard that most clinics made appointments for months down the road. I should have wondered at that too, I guess.

Andy took me to the clinic at 3 o'clock the next afternoon. I was met by a good looking guy who told my husband that he could come back after 7 that evening to pick me up. When he said that he would like to stay the man told him that it was impossible for a spouse to be present when the procedure was in process. It was usually too trying for the spouse since there was some minor pain and discomfort involved.

Andy started to argue with the man but I held up my hand and insisted that he leave and come back to pick me up as instructed. I made it plain to him that if this was the rule then we'd abide by it, after all, we were getting a cut-rate price for something we'd been trying to accomplish on our own with no success. It would all be over within 4 hours I told him.

Andy finally agreed and left.

I was nervous as the young man led me down the hall to a large waiting room. There was only one other woman in the room and I said hi to her and sat down.

It didn't take long; very shortly a woman in scrubs came into the room and called my name. I nervously looked at the other woman sitting there and gave her an apologetic glance as I followed the lady out of the room.

I found myself in another room that was dimly lit with a table in the middle of the room. It didn't look like an operating room, and it sort of smelled, but I didn't say anything when I was instructed to undress and to put on a lose hospital gown. Before lady the left she handed me a paper cup with a pink liquid in it and told me to drink it all.

I took it in one gulp and grimaced. It had to have a high alcohol content because I could also taste something like codeine for something medicinal like that as an after taste.

I sat on the padded table and waited. It wasn't long before my head was spinning and I felt woozy.

The next thing I remember was noise. It sounded like I was at a party, there were voices, lots of voices. My mind was foggy and I felt so funny, like I was out of my own body. But I wasn't and the thing that suddenly became clear to me was that someone was on top of me.

I opened my eyes and looked about me with bleary vision. I could sort of make out people standing around, it looked like the place was packed. I was having a hard time seeing anything clearly, but I knew deep down that the room was packed with men and it smelled of sweat and something else...