Accidental Surrogate

Ella

“I’m sorry Ella.” My physician says gently. “I’m afraid you have very few viable eggs remaining. Frankly, I normally see these numbers in women ten or fifteen years your senior.”

“What?” I murmur, not believing my ears. I’ve been trying to get pregnant for years. I’m only 30, I should have plenty of eggs left.

“In terms of fertility, you have very little time left.” She continues. “If you want to conceive, you need to do so before your next cycle begins.”

“My next cycle?” I repeat, my mouth hanging open in shock. I love kids more than anything, and though it might not be everyone’s ambition, I want nothing more than to be a mother.

I have to get home and tell my boyfriend this news, and there’s not a moment to waste.

I make it home in record time, bursting through the door and opening my mouth to call for Mike, but stopping dead in my tracks. As soon as I walk inside I see a pair of high heels and a handbag by the door – neither of which belong to me.

I cock my ears towards the bedroom, and my stomach churns when I hear the unmistakable sound of moaning, accompanied by a steady thump thump thump, as the bed collides with the wall. Worse even than realizing that Mike is clearly in there with another woman, is realizing who he’s with. I know that handbag, and I know those shoes – they belong to my best friend, Kate.

believe she

“she’s delusional. I don’t know how you put up

would have given her the time of day.” Mike scoffs. “Thankfully daily doses of plan

morning after pill?” Kate asks, “how did you manage

put it in her morning coffee.” Mike chortles, sounding far

to get pregnant, despite having unprotected sex multiple times a week for years. It’s even clear how I could have the eggs of a 45-year-old, if my despicable partner has been secretly feeding

on the wall, wanting to frighten and punish the pair in the bedroom so fiercely that I fear I might attack them when they emerge. Water immediately sprays down from the sprinkler system

when he’s the one who’s been sneaking around behind my back for God knows how long. He seems to realize how suspicious it looks that he and Kate are standing

blazes in my veins, he must truly believe I’m an idiot

– my best years – on this scumbag. And now he may have cost me my future too. As soon as the thought enters my head,

did we grow up together in the orphanage, but she became an OBGYN and now works for the most exclusive sperm bank in the city. I’ve never gone to her before because I always imagined Mike and I would eventually conceive

a man willing to have a baby with me in time, I’m not eager to trust anyone after Mike’s betrayal. I’m going to have to do this on my own, and I know Cora can help me. I don’t have much money, but

the moment I see my sister I fall to pieces. She hugs and kisses me until my tears subside, slowly extracting the story from me piece by piece. When she hears about Mike and Kate she swears up a storm, but

studying me with a worried expression. “Ella, if your doctor was right this means you