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Back The Surrogate Save as PDF
Chapters (65)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Epigraph
  4. Part One
  5. One
  6. Two
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Seven
  12. Eight
  13. Nine
  14. Ten
  15. Eleven
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Sixteen
  21. Seventeen
  22. Eighteen
  23. Nineteen
  24. Twenty
  25. Twenty-One
  26. Twenty-Two
  27. Twenty-Three
  28. Twenty-Four
  29. Twenty-Five
  30. Twenty-Six
  31. Twenty-Seven
  32. Twenty-Eight
  33. Twenty-Nine
  34. Thirty
  35. Thirty-One
  36. Thirty-Two
  37. Thirty-Three
  38. Part Two
  39. Thirty-Four
  40. Thirty-Five
  41. Thirty-Six
  42. Thirty-Seven
  43. Thirty-Eight
  44. Thirty-Nine
  45. Forty
  46. Forty-One
  47. Forty-Two
  48. Forty-Three
  49. Forty-Four
  50. Forty-Five
  51. Forty-Six
  52. Forty-Seven
  53. Forty-Eight
  54. Forty-Nine
  55. Fifty
  56. Fifty-One
  57. Part Three
  58. Fifty-Two
  59. Fifty-Three
  60. Fifty-Four
  61. Fifty-Five
  62. Fifty-Six
  63. Acknowledgments
  64. About the Author
  65. About the Publisher

I wondered why my mother didn’t have so much time. Why had I come so quickly? The nurse gave me something for the pain, and I dropped in and out of awareness. At some point Hal must have shown up. He and Ruth were bustling in and out of my room, and I decided I would ask the nurse my questions when Hal and Ruth weren’t there. If I could find a moment alone with the nurse or the doctor, I’d tell them the story about my mother in the Pacer. Maybe they’d want to know about her labor. Maybe I’d inherited something important.

Twenty

Ruth

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2002

Morning

Traditional Surrogacy Agreement, Sect. 9(b)(ii)

After delivery, the birth mother shall be allowed a Transition Day with the newborn child prior to the Transfer Ceremony. This twenty-four-hour period with the birth mother is intended for the well-being of the child. Prior to the Transfer Ceremony (or concurrent with it), the birth mother shall execute the affidavit relinquishing her parental rights, and the intended parents shall thereafter promptly execute the adoption and parental rights declarations attached hereto. None of these documents may be signed prior to the birth or they shall be deemed null and void.

Since the birth was on a Thursday, we designated that entire Friday as “transition day” with Cally. Even so, I was under the impression that Hal and I would have access to our daughter that day. After the baby was born, I called Kristin and my editor, Jerry, from the hospital to let them know. He agreed to start my six weeks of maternity leave on Friday, the transition day. Hal planned to take a full week off starting on Monday. He still had some things to finish up at work on Friday, so that made sense.

Friday morning was cold and snowy. The world was white outside my car window, weighing down trees and blowing across streets, then veiling in silver all the buildings I passed on the way to the hospital. I stopped at Caribou to pick up a couple of slices of coffee cake and two decafs, to share with Cally. I brought my journal, as well as copies of the New York Times and the Pioneer Press, so we’d have something to read. And I brought the pink-and-white-striped newborn jammies I’d picked out at Baby Gap. I couldn’t wait to see how they fit.

We’d have to decide on her name soon. I thought I wanted Elizabeth, my mother’s middle name. And it was a classic, after all. I’d imagined calling our baby Libby, Liza, or Tess. But now that she was here, I wasn’t sure the name suited her. I studied her tiny, creased face, but I couldn’t quite recognize her.