Chapter 9: Processed
ANGELA Dalton, Jhay's former personal teacher and the doctor in charge of the 'Jhay Locrene Ayara's Development' 19 years ago. She quit medicine after that incident. The process was done accordingly to the standard procedures, but the people involved were the reason why
Angela could barely look at herself in the mirror after Jhay's birth. She chose Medicine because she was also a frozen embryo for almost twelve years. Angela was inspired by her adopted parents whom she considered her family. She decided to help people like them to have children. But after Jhay was born, Angela left medicine and tried to live a normal life as a voluntary kindergarten teacher.
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"Ms. Angela, do you think I can have more than one mommy? Like you, aren't you my mommy number two? My mom told me that at school, our teachers are our second mothers. Is it true?" one of Angela's bright student asked her. His name was Daniel, he always asks Angela random questions that normal kids never do. Daniel reminded Angela of Jhay, innocent yet curious.
When children ask you questions, you must be careful in giving them answers for the things you told them will be remembered mostly when they are still young.
Angela concluded that, "When adults speak, children don't understand. When children speak, adults don't listen."
"Well Daniel, I know you are a smart kid. Yes we can have more than one mother, but there's only one you must consider the most, and that is your mommy who takes good care of you at home. She is special, she needs more attention and love from you than any other mother you know. Do you get it?" Angela said briefly.
"I knew it! I can have two or more but of course I will love my mommy most!" Daniel said cheerfully as he ran towards his classmates and played with them.
"More than one?" Angela thought, "That kid was too happy to possibly have more than one mother. But I know one person who never wished to have four mothers and later on grew up like an abandoned child."
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LOOKING back when Angela was still a newbie in the field of medicine...
Inside a small and cold conference room, they were watching a film about In Vitro Fertilization. There were about ten or more people inside the room. They all said 'awe' in unison as they carefully watched and remembered every details, some of them took down notes if needed.
The show started with an introduction about how IVF works.
IVF works through imitating the system of sexual reproduction or the natural process of baby making. 15 days before fertilization can happen, the interior Pituitary Glands secrets (FSH),
-which ripens a handful of follicles of the ovary that then releases Estrogen.
Each follicle contains one egg but only one follicle becomes fully mature. As it develops and continues to release Estrogen, it helps the growth and preparation of the uterus. When the estrogen level is high enough, lutinizing hormones (LH) will be released by the pituitary glands which triggers ovulation, which causes the follicle to release the egg.
Once the egg leaves the ovary, it is directed into the fallopian tube.
If fertilization fails to occur within 24 hours or the egg does not meet the sperm, the unfertilized egg will die causing the entire system to reset itself and repeat the same process the following month. The egg as the largest cell in the body is protected by a thick extra cellular shell of sugar and protein, 'Zona Pellucida'. The sperm is the smallest cell in the body and takes a man to three months to make a sperm. During sexual intercourse, more than a hundred million sperms were released each ejaculation. Only a hundred or so will ultimately make it to the egg and only one will succesfully enters the Zona Pellucida. In succesfull fertilization, the zygote starts to develop into an embryo and takes three days to reach the uterus. Once the zygote was implanted into the inner lining of the uterus after another three days, the placenta secrets a hormone that signals the ovulated follicle that there is pregnancy in the uterus. This helps rescue the follicle, now Corpus Luteum from degenerating as it normally would do in the stage of menstrual cycle.
It is responsible for producing the progestrone required to maintain the pregnancy until sixty seven weeks of developing.
"It's the highlight!" the geek guy next to Angela silently squirmed as the film continued. The ideas and informations made Angela excited and eager to know more.
--->How do you make a baby in the lab?
For patients undergoing IVF, FSH is administered at levels that are higher than naturally occuring to cause a controlled over stimulation of the ovaries in order to produce multiple eggs.
The eggs are then restored before ovulation would happen, while the woman is in anesthesia through a needle guided by ultrasound.
Most sperm samples are produced by masturbation. In the laboratory, the eggs are prepared for fertilization in a petri dish ( a shallow cylindrical glass or plastic lidded dish that biologists use to culture cells). Fertilization can be done by two techniques. First, the eggs are incubated with thousands of sperms and let fertilization happens naturally over a few hours. Second, in order to maximize a successful fertilization, a needle is used to place a single sperm inside the egg.
It is a useful method when there is a problem of the quality of the sperm. After fertilization, embryos can be further screened for genetic suitability. Frozen for later attempted pregnancies or delivered into the woman's uterus. If the woman's egg is poor quality due to age or toxic exposures or have been removed due to cancer, donor eggs maybe used. If the intended mother has a problematic uterus or lacks one, another woman called the surrogate can use her uterus to carry the pregnancy.
Millions of babies have been born from IVF and had normal healthy lives. After many successful artificial baby making processes, delayed child bearing and better genetic testing, it is inconceivable that through IVF and other related techniques, the world would be more productive in years to come.
"Woah, brilliant" the geek guy next to Angela whispered as he let out a slight and shy smile.
Angela thought, "So that's how I was made and born?"
"One never certainly knew where they were heading to nor where they came from" Angela guessed.
Angela's mother told her that she was a frozen embryo for twelve years and that she was originally her mother's egg and her father's sperm. They never needed any egg and sperm donors, they never needed a surrogate mother because Angela's mother's uterus was healthy and was capable for pregnancy. Her mother just wanted to delay her pregnancy because she was too young from the time being and was afraid she might not be able to produce more eggs in the future due to menstrual problems. Better restore than nothing, her mother once said. Basically, they were Angela's only true parents from the beginning. Angela was so happy to know that. She lived a normal life like any other normal people wanted to be.
After years of studies and experiences, Angela performed and witnessed different situations and processes relating artificial births. Everything was fine not until that insane and desperate couple came.
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"Ms. Dalton we know that you are an expert who can deal with this kind of situations" the man said.
"But sir! this woman barely agreed to carry the baby! She is not on the right mind to make such desicions!" Angela protested as she was refering to the twenty five year old looking lady lying on the hospital bed, innocently smiling.
"Trust me! She loves me and will do anything for me!" the man said and looked at Angela with persevering eyes. Angela gulped as she stared back at the man and to the woman behind him, whom Angela surely guessed was his wife.
"But sir! This lady has mental health problems and might not be able to take care of the baby in a long period of time!" Angela said, struggling from the man's grip. The lady lying on the bed named Joy has Schizophrenia, a very serious mental illness in which a person cannot think or behave normally, they often experience hallucinations or the like.
"Just listen to me!" the man ordered Angela as he held Joy's hand and laid her down on the bed.
"Joy, listen to me okay" the man said as he gave Joy a fabricated genuine smile, Joy smiled innocently at him in return.
"You and I are going to have a baby. You like that, don't you?" The man said to Joy as Joy nodded simultaneously without a second thought. Angela looked at the woman behind the man as she asked her a question.
"Are you fine with this?" Angela said looking directly into the woman's eyes as the woman avoided her gaze, eyes filled with guilt.
"Joy will do anything for Bryan. Yes, because Bryan loves Joy." Joy said repeatedly as Bryan nodded to Joy and treating her like a child.
"That's good, Joy. You will be the mommy and Bryan will be the daddy" Bryan said as his wife behind him tried to hold herself from a possible faint.
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"Woah! Eight years!" Bryan exclaimed as he heard that the embryo Angela would be using was frozen for eight years.
Angela didn't know the name of the donors of the egg and the sperm that was used eight years ago to create the lucky embryo in her hand. Angela was only tasked to perform another artificial baby making.
Angela tried to convince herself as she thought, "Get yourself together, Angela! It's nothing different from your previous assignments!"
The embryo was succesfully implanted inside the uterus of the surrogate mother, in Joy's womb. Bryan and his wife supported everything Joy needed for her pregnancy, including Bryan acting as Joy's husband.
Nine months have passed and the time has come for Joy to bear Jhay. Right after birth, Jhay's adopted parents never let Joy touched the baby. They celebrated in the hospital like normal families do.
On the other hand, Joy went mad and was sent to another hospital for mental care. Angela saw Joy's miserable and sorrowful face as they took them away.
Joy even asked a favor from Angela.
"Madam! Please! Look after my baby! I beg of you!" Joy said while crying madly that she almost kissed the ground and kneeled in front of Angela.
"Please... Look after my child" Joy begged, tears covered her face as she looked up at Angela with pleading and cracked voice.
"Can you please name her 'Miracle' for me?" Joy asked with a painful smile.
Angela thought, "God.I witnessed something bad caused by love. This woman fell inlove with a guy named Bryan. She carried the baby for nine months. She never had the chance to hug her and was sent away for mental medication. She asked me to look after her child and named her 'Miracle'. God, I watched her being taken away from her child. I was there. I saw everything from the start. I could have done something to stop this from happening. But God, I became a coward and let this happen.
I was wrong."
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ANGELA quit Medicine and became a teacher as she secretly watched the child grew up. Her name was Jhay Locrene Ayara. Her parents seemed to be the perfect parents in the child's eyes, Angela could tell the way the child smiles. When Jhay reached the age of seven she was told about her being an adopted child. Angela purposely sneaked the documents into their mailbox but Bryan kept it like a professional.
Then tragedy came, Jhay was kidnapped. All the connections, informations and identifications about Jhay became untraceable and unknown. It took Angela several months to find Jhay and introduced herself as her personal teacher in the most natural way. Pherein trusted Angela and told her everything about Jhay's whereabouts must be confidential. Angela acted like she knew nothing. As Angela watched Jhay changed, the guilt and pain inside her heart increased. Angela noticed that the child usually stares at the skies at night with wondering eyes. Angela witnessed how the child lost her interest in learning at school. The child became an introvert and Jhay barely talks to Pherein. Jhay was treating her mother like a stranger everyday. Angela noticed how Jhay maintained a distance from everyone. And the saddest part. Jhay barely smiles.
Angela was there. She watched her grew up and changed. Jhay never celebrated her birthdays and drowned herself into playing games and staying inside her room. She started talking to Angela a little bit but not comfortable enough to open up about herself. After years of spending time and being Jhay's teacher, Angela still couldn't figure out what was going on inside Jhay's mind.
Angela prayed, "God, I have made a decision. This might bring war but at least let me do something to help this child."
Angela made fake medical proofs to make Pherein believe that she was pregnant. Angela took the time to look for Joy and Jhay's adopted mother.
Angela thought, "If only I could change a little bit of Jhay's reaction. If only I could make her laugh, cry, be scared and be excited. Then this sadness I've been carrying for a long time might fade away."
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AFTER a few months of preparations, Angela found Joy, well and healthy.
Finally, Angela could give Joy a chance to call Jhay 'Miracle'.
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