Chapter 5

Over the next two months, Mom was constantly posting updates in the family group and on her social media.

“Went to the hospital for bloodwork today. They took tube after tube, but it’s all worth it for my future son!”

“Starting the hormone shots today. Gotta eat more meat and keep my strength up so I can get some good eggs!”

“Finally doing the egg retrieval! Wish me luck!”

After that last post, her updates suddenly stopped.

Three days later, I received a video call from her.

On the other end of the call, her face was pale, and she looked both angry and confused.

Seeing her like that, I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pity. “Mom, what happened? You don’t look well.”

Tears started streaming down her face. “Hannah, what am I supposed to do?”

“The doctor said my eggs are completely useless! That egg retrieval needle—do you know how long it was? Thirty centimeters! Your dad didn’t want to pay for anesthesia, so I went through the whole thing wide awake! It was more painful than when I gave birth to you!”

“I suffered through all that, and then they told me my eggs are no good! But your Aunt Linda is three years older than me, and her eggs were just fine. Why?!”