Dr. Barroway nodded. “Fortunately for you, that’s the kind of problem money probablycansolve. It’ll be a matter of finding a woman who is willing to accept your terms, and of course that’s much more likely if she’s being well paid for her efforts.”
“I’m also going to need her to defer to my medical decisions for the baby, within reason,” Miles said. “Nothing that would compromise her own health, of course, but I need to be sure she’s following any dietary plans I want her to adhere to, taking the right vitamins, getting proper rest and exercise, and going to all her medical appointments.”
“That’s fairly standard,” the doctor assured him. “As long as you don’t have any requests that are too unorthodox, it won’t be a problem.”
“I don’t think I do.” The truth was that he had no idea what was considered normal for something like this, nor did he know what his requests would be. All he knew was that he wanted to have control over things. “If I do want to make a request, what’s the appropriate way to do it?”
“You’ll need to put down a list of instructions you want the woman to follow, so she can agree to it beforehand.”
“Beforehand?” He frowned. “What if I change my mind about something?” This child was going to be his heir, after all. He ought to be able to make decisions about its well-being. “What if I learn something new about what’s healthy for a baby and I want to add it to the list?”
“We can stipulate that.”
“And I think she should check in with me before she does anything out of the ordinary.”
“That might be a bit much,” Dr. Barroway said. “When you contract with a surrogate, you need to remember that she’s still an independent person with her own life. A lot of people make the mistake of looking at it as if they’re hiring a full-time incubator for their child. But you can’t think of it that way. Whoever your surrogate is, she’ll continue to go to work if she has a job. She’ll see her family and friends, and she’ll do whatever it is she does for fun.”
“Why would she need to have a job when I’m paying her?”
“Presumably she’ll want to return to her work when she’s done carrying your child,” the doctor said.
“I did tell you money was no object. I have no hesitations about setting this woman up for life, so she would never have to work again.”
“I wouldn’t recommend that,” the doctor said. “For one thing, I think you’ll find it hard to find anyone who would take an arrangement like that, because it would make her financially dependent on you for the rest of her life. Wouldyoutake it?”
Miles had to admit that he probably wouldn’t.
“Aside from that, many people are attached to their jobs,” Barroway said. “I don’t know about you, but there’s no amount of money someone could give me to make me leave medicine. And given the list of attributes you’re after in a birth mother, I’m guessing you’re going to want someone who’s pretty dedicated to the things in her life — not someone who’s willing to abandon something she’s worked for at the drop of a hat.”
Dr. Barroway had a point. Miles was starting to understand why all this was so complicated, and why it took such a long time. He’d envisioned coming in here and choosing a potential surrogate from a book, but of course it wasn’t that simple. Women weren’t sitting around on a shelf waiting to carry other people’s babies for them.
“What’s the absolute fastest you think we could get this started? Is two weeks long enough?” he asked. Surely someone could be found in that time.
The doctor sighed and shook his head. “I feel like you aren’t hearing what I’m telling you. There is no way to get something like this done that quickly. It simply isn’t going to happen.”
Miles wasn’t used to hearing that something he wanted wasn’t going to happen. In every other avenue of his life, there was always a way. If money couldn’t solve a problem, compromise, charm and persuasion could. It was how he handled himself in the business world, how he was able to close all the deals he negotiated, and it was also how he conducted whatever personal affairs he carried out.
But those things wouldn’t help him here. There was no way to persuade Dr. Barroway to do this more quickly when the man was telling him it couldn’t be done. And it was apparent now thatMiles’s financial resources weren’t going to be any help inthisbusiness.
He was stuck.
“Go ahead and get things started,” he told the doctor. “Please try to make it happen as quickly as possible.”
He got to his feet, said his goodbyes, and left the room, feeling dismal and hopeless. He had expected this meeting to go much better than it had. He always left meetings having gotten what he wanted.
I guess there’s a first time for everything.
But what was he supposed to do now? He had promised his father a child. He had to deliver.
He was so caught up in his thoughts as he walked out of the office that he didn’t even notice the woman coming around the corner until he had collided with her. She gasped and dropped her purse on the floor. The contents spilled out and went everywhere.
Miles let out a curse. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t see you there… Oh, hey, did I hurt you? You’re crying!”
She turned away, color rising in her cheeks. “I was crying before,” she said, her voice quiet. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you.”
“No, you didn’t. Let me help you get your things.” He was on his hands and knees at once, picking up loose items and handing them to her so she could put them back in her purse. “I should have been looking where I was going,” he said as he got back to his feet. “I’mthe one who needs to apologize.”
She was smiling through her tears now. “We keep going back and forth,” she said. “What if we accept each other’s apologies?”
