Monday, October 27, 2014

Week 11 Storytelling: In Vitro

There once was a couple who lived in upstate New York. They were a sweet, kind couple, who desired to have a large family. They tried and tried and tried to have children, but alas, it was no use. They went to the doctor hoping to solve the problem. He was a renowned doctor, and they hoped greatly that he could help. The doctor gave them a few options. The first, which was surrogacy, the couple thought could work. However, they preferred to have a child with each other. After a long talk with the doctor, the couple went home. They slept on it, took some time to themselves, and spent their personal days contemplating each option that the doctor had given to them. They finally came to a decision.

They decided to try in vitro fertilization. They set the appointment date. The husband went in a few weeks early and did his business. They were so excited they could hardly take it. They decided not to tell anyone, including their immediate families, until they knew that the pregnancy had taken.

The day finally came, and the woman went in receive the treatment. She went into the doctor’s office and waited. She waited and waited, and finally the doctor came in. His face was grim, and she immediately could tell that something was wrong.

“What is the matter?” she brazenly demanded.

“Ma’am, bear with me – this has never happened here before. I’ve never even heard of this happening. Somehow, we mixed up your husband’s semen, and we impregnated another woman with it…”

The woman got up from her chair, left the room, and got in her car. She drove to the nearest coffee shop, ordered a latte, and sat in her car and cried.

But don’t worry; they ended up meeting the woman who was impregnated with the husband’s sperm. She had the baby and gave it to them, which was nice, especially since the in vitro didn’t work with the wife when they tried it later. The couple sued the in vitro office and won enough money to send 7 kids to college, and maybe even their grandkids too.


Image Information: Happy Family, Mommy and Daddy Kiss
Source: Urban Moms


Author’s note: I took a section out of Buck’s Mahabharata. This particular section tells the story of Uparichara having a wet dream and sending his semen to his wife. However, the hawk charged with its delivery dropped the semen in the water and impregnated a fish. A fisherman caught the fish and found a baby girl in its stomach. I decided to modernize the story to make it more realistic.



Bibliography: Buck, William. Mahabharata. Berkeley: U of California, 1973. Print.

3 comments:

  1. I think this was an awesome retelling. The modernization was incredibly well done. I think the ending was a little rushed and sloppy. I wish that you had actually written out the woman giving them the baby and them suing the company, but I understand that you were probably to the word limit and didn’t want to add more. Either way, it was really good!

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  2. I like how you changed this story from something very incredulous and hard to believe to something much more modern. I thought it was well thought out and the writing is superb as per usual. I like your version of this story; it reminds me of a show my roommate and I watch called "Jane the Virgin." It's about a woman who is about to get married and has saved her virginity for marriage, but everything changes when she goes in for a pap smear and the frazzled doctor accidentally impregnates her (mistaking her for the patient in the next room). Also, the semen sample she used is her brother's (the doctor's brother) and not only that, but it is his only viable sample because he had cancer and the chemo completely depleted his sperm count. Anyway, good job. I enjoyed it a lot and thought you could have kept going!

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  3. Hi Skyler. I really like the way that you chose to modernize this tale. It is interesting to see how a doctor could make a mistake like that and end up impregnating the wrong woman. I can completely understand why they would sue the company! The procedure is extremely expensive and to find out a mistake might make them lose everything would be heartbreaking. I'm glad you had it all work out in the end! Good job!

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