Chapter 3 - Emma Thought I Had Chosen Her
Emma asked for her attorney before answering detailed questions.
That was sensible.
I had already treated her badly enough.
Her name was Emma Lawson. She was twenty-seven, married, and had one child of her own. She had completed the agency’s psychological screening, medical screening and independent legal consultation before agreeing to become a gestational carrier.
She was not desperate.
She was not Richard’s secret girlfriend.
She had met him for the first time during a formal video call arranged by the agency.
She had never met me.
That should have bothered her.
It did.
According to Emma, the agency told her I had experienced severe reproductive trauma and preferred not to participate directly in carrier communication until after the first trimester.
Richard supported that explanation.
Emma requested confirmation that I still consented.
The agency sent her a copy of the signed carrier-substitution addendum.
My signature was there.
Then Richard gave her something else.
A letter.
Emma’s attorney produced it.
The first line read:
Emma, I’m sorry I’m not ready to meet you yet. Please don’t mistake my silence for ingratitude.
My name appeared beneath it.
I read the page twice.
“I didn’t write this.”
Emma went pale.
Richard looked down.
The letter thanked Emma for “giving us a way forward after so much grief.”
It said I had chosen distance because I feared becoming attached before the pregnancy was stable.
That explanation was emotionally plausible enough that Emma accepted it.
Then she said something I did not deserve to hear as gently as she said it.
“I thought you wanted me here.”
I looked at the woman I had slapped less than an hour earlier.
“I’m sorry.”
She did not answer.
That was fair.
I tried again.
“I attacked you because I decided what kind of woman you were before asking a single question. That was wrong regardless of what Richard did.”
Emma touched her cheek.
“I’m carrying a baby you didn’t agree to have me carry.”
“Yes.”
“That’s what I’m trying to understand.”
“So am I.”
Then she asked Richard directly:
“Did Diane write the letter?”
Richard hesitated.
“No.”
Emma’s face tightened.
“You wrote it?”
“I drafted it based on things Diane had said during treatment.”
“You signed her name.”
“I thought she would eventually understand.”
Emma’s voice became colder.
“You made me believe the genetic mother knew who I was.”
Richard said:
“You were protected legally.”
Emma’s attorney immediately responded.
“That is not for you to decide.”
The surrogacy agreement named both Richard and me as intended parents.
Emma had entered it believing both intended parents were informed and consenting.
That belief affected more than money.
She had agreed to prenatal communication expectations.
Birth planning.
Medical-information sharing.
Future parentage proceedings.
She had organized her own pregnancy around a family structure that did not actually exist.
Then Dr. Miller produced one more email.
It was from Emma to the agency at eight weeks pregnant.
Please confirm Diane received the ultrasound update. I don’t want her feeling excluded because of me.
The coordinator replied:
Richard confirms Diane is receiving everything but does not wish to communicate yet.
Richard had lied repeatedly to both sides.
Then Emma said:
“You told me she cried when she heard the heartbeat.”
I looked at Richard.
He said nothing.
I had never heard it.
Not once.
That was the moment my anger changed.
Until then I had been furious because Richard had used one of our embryos without my knowledge.
Now I understood he had also invented an entire emotional version of me to keep Emma cooperative.
And according to Emma, Richard had another story ready for after the birth.
May you like
He told her I planned to meet the baby only once we were home.
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