Chapter 4 - The Second Surrogate
Her name was Jenna Cole.
Thirty years old.
Married.
Two children of her own.
Eight months pregnant.
Daniel and Laura were listed as intended parents.
I stared at Nora.
“They had another baby coming?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“The contract says family balancing and contingency placement.”
I felt sick.
“Contingency?”
Nora looked disgusted.
“It appears they planned two simultaneous surrogacies.”
“Then selected which placement to complete.”
I could barely process the sentence.
“They ordered two babies and planned to choose?”
“That is what it looks like.”
One pregnancy used Daniel’s genetic material.
The other used donor material.
Laura could not carry a pregnancy because of a medical condition.
That alone meant nothing.
Surrogacy was not the problem.
The problem was treating human beings like interchangeable products.
The first surrogate, Elise, had delivered Daniel’s biological son.
He had a correctable heart condition.
Daniel declined him.
The second surrogate had not yet delivered.
So Daniel paid for Maya’s healthy newborn as an immediate substitute.
Why?
Because the trust request depended on a newborn already being in the home.
The house.
The million-dollar distribution.
The appearance of a completed family.
Everything had been timed.
I called Daniel.
No answer.
Laura answered instead.
Her voice was shaking.
“What have you done?”
I almost laughed.
“What have I done?”
“You froze our accounts.”
“You sent lawyers.”
“You dragged Maya into this.”
“Maya was already in this.”
“No.”
“She signed papers.”
“Did you read them?”
Silence.
“Laura.”
“I trusted Daniel.”
“So did I.”
She began crying.
“I wanted a baby.”
“That does not explain two surrogates.”
“We had failures.”
“Two pregnancies at the same time.”
“Daniel said it increased our chances.”
“Of what?”
“Getting a healthy baby?”
Laura’s crying stopped.
That silence answered.
“You knew.”
“No.”
“You knew enough.”
She whispered, “Please.”
“Did you see your biological son after birth?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
Her voice broke.
“Five minutes.”
“Did you touch him?”
“Yes.”
“Did he hold your finger?”
Laura began sobbing.
I closed my eyes.
“Then you left him.”
“Daniel said we weren’t equipped.”
“For a surgery?”
“He said there could be lifelong complications.”
“The cardiologist says the prognosis is good.”
Silence.
I continued.
“Did Daniel tell you that?”
“No.”
“What did he tell you?”
“That the baby might never have a normal life.”
There it was.
Daniel had lied to Laura too.
Not enough to make her innocent.
Enough to make her useful.
“Where is Jenna?”
“I don’t know.”
“You have a contract.”
“Daniel handled everything.”
That phrase had become the family anthem.
Daniel handled it.
Daniel decided.
Daniel paid.
Daniel moved.
Laura accepted.
I ended the call.
The emergency custody hearing occurred the next morning.
Maya testified.
She described labor.
The forms.
Dr. Mercer.
Being told her baby needed evaluation.
Being discharged without him.
Daniel’s attorney attacked her age.
School attendance.
Foster history.
One marijuana citation from two years earlier.
Maya answered every question.
Then Camille played Daniel’s call.
“That baby has a better life with us.”
The courtroom changed.
Daniel looked toward me.
Not ashamed.
Furious.
The judge ordered immediate removal of Maya’s baby from Daniel and Laura pending investigation.
Maya could not take him home that hour because the home assessment had not finished.
He was transferred to a neutral foster placement for forty-eight hours.
Maya cried.
But she accepted the process.
Daniel exploded.
“You’re taking my son?”
The judge looked at him.
“Your legal relationship to this child has not been established.”
“He has my name.”
“A name is not a custody order.”
That sentence stayed with me.
Daniel turned toward me after court.
“This is your fault.”
“No.”
“You brought strangers into our family.”
“You brought a stranger’s baby into yours.”
His face hardened.
“You always wanted control.”
“I wanted grandchildren.”
“Not control.”
“You froze the trust.”
“Because you forged my signature.”
Laura stood behind him.
Her face went white.
“You what?”
Daniel looked at her.
“Not now.”
Laura stepped backward.
“You used her signature?”
“It was paperwork.”
“For the trust?”
He grabbed her arm.
“Laura.”
She pulled away.
That small movement mattered.
For the first time, I saw fear in her eyes directed at her husband.
Then Camille’s phone rang.
She answered.
Her face changed.
“What?”
She looked toward Maya.
Then me.
“Jenna Cole is missing.”
May you like
The second surrogate had disappeared overnight.
And Daniel’s company card had purchased a one-way airline ticket under her name.
