Nate glanced at Derek, who lounged back in his chair.
“Well, I learned a lot.”
“Like what?”
“Don’t get excited, Kris.” Nate turned his water glass between his fingers. “This isn’t a fast process.”
Her face fell. “What do you mean?”
“I have to go through a screening process, the same as if I was an anonymous sperm donor.”
“Oh. But…”
“It’s the law.” He knew what she was going to say. “First of all, with a directed donor, they strongly recommend that we get legal advice and also counseling.”
“Counseling?” Her eyes widened.
Nate nodded somberly. “Yeah. When you think of it, there are a whole lot of issues that could come up. Which is why they also recommend getting a lawyer.”
He watched Krissa’s face, the changes as thoughts and emotions ran through her.
“I have to have a complete physical and they have to take blood to test for every disease known to man, I think. They’llneed to take my medical history, and my family’s medical history, and then I have to give a sample for testing. I have to meet the same criteria as anonymous donors, like I said, although it sounds like if I don’t, they still might let us do it. Then they’ll also know how many samples I would need to give. It’s usually two or three, but could be more.” He sighed. Here it came. “The samples have to be frozen and quarantined for at least six months before they can use them.”
Krissa’s mouth rounded and her eyes widened. He glanced at Derek, who blinked and looked at Krissa. “Six months?”
He nodded. “Yup.” He licked his lips. “And at the end of six months, they have to test them again.”
“Oh dear God.” He saw sadness sweep over her. “Six months.” She slumped back in her seat and stared into space. “But I’m ovulating next week.” Her voice came out soft and shaky.
“I know.” His heart squeezed at the disappointment she must be feeling. He knew she’d been ready and eager to go with this, and she hated to wait for anything, let alone something she’d wanted and waited so long for. He reached out and took her hand and clasped it. “I’m sorry. I’m still willing to do it…the donations have to be made over a two or three week period, because you have to abstain from uh…abstain for a few days in between. I expect I’ll be here that long, at least.”
She nodded. One tear formed in a crystal drop and slid down her smooth cheek.
“And that will cost about nine hundred bucks.”
“What!” This came from Derek. “Nine hundred bucks!”
Nate choked on a laugh. “Yeah. Don’t worry, I can afford it.”
“Oh, no.” Krissa’s brow creased with distress and her fingers gripped his. “You don’t have to pay that, Nate. We dragged you into this. We’re paying for it.” She shot a glance at Derek, who grimaced.
“Sure. What’s another nine hundred bucks when we’ve already spent a fortune on this.”
“Then there’s the storage fee. For six months I think it’sanother few hundred dollars.”
“Jesus.”
“Well, we knew artificial insemination was going to cost a lot,” Krissa shook her head. “That doesn’t matter. We can afford it.”
Derek gave a jerky nod. “It seems like a lot of money for something that could be done in five minutes.”
“Huh?” Nate looked at Derek. “Five minutes?”
“Yeah. You know. Sex.”
Nate couldn’t help his laugh. “Five minutes, buddy? Poor Krissa.”
Derek’s mouth quirked. “You know what I mean, asshole. I just mean if you do things the natural way…” His smile faded and his brows drew together.
