Dr. Ruth Rabinowitz, the sixty-two-year-old owner of the Westside Reproductive Center, sat at her desk finishing up the last of her paperwork for the day. Even though it was only Wednesday, she was already looking forward to the weekend and spending some time in her garden. In truth, she despised her job, but the money was quite good, and unlike others in the medical profession, her hours were relatively short and predictable.
She hadn't always been this way. When she first broke out on her own some twenty-five years ago, she had been excited about the challenge and eager to make a difference in young couples' lives. However, time had worn on her, and her divorce ten years ago hadn't helped. Now, she mostly looked at each client as just another set of whiners thinking their problems were special. Besides, there were too many people on the planet already, and if fate was keeping certain couples childless, then so be it. She would just take their money, or more precisely, their insurance money, and enjoy the comfort it provided. Of course, she would always pretend to care, commiserating mostly with the women to give them hope.
The doctor locked the files away, collected her things and left the small room. It would be good to get home to her pet poodle, Claude. Besides her daughter that lived several hours away, her dog was the joy of her life. Perhaps she would take the animal for a short walk and maybe call her daughter later too, she thought.
The clinic had a staff of twenty, made up of four other MDs, and an assortment of clinical staff that covered testing, genetics, counseling and administration. Most had gone by now, but as she turned the corner in the hallway, she looked straight into the office of Greg Rizzo. She was surprised to see him, as he was typically the first one out the door. He was a young graduate of the local community college, and worked for the office administrator doing a variety of tasks that included IT, record keeping, receivables and payables. It seemed to her that he must spend every minute outside of work at the gym since his 6'1" body was in incredible shape, which augmented his natural swarthy good looks. Although he had been discrete to date, she suspected he had been in flings with several of his female co-workers. They were always sighing over his looks, which made the older woman jealous, since she knew that at her age and with her poor looks she would never find herself beneath him.
"Probably looking at porn," she whispered to herself as she walked past.
"Please honey. We've come this far," Anne Mattsson said to her husband.
The young couple was sitting in their SUV outside the clinic waiting for their appointment time and Jason, her husband of four years, was suddenly getting cold feet.
"I don't know...I...I don't know..." he replied as he looked at her and shook his head.
Jason was twenty-nine years old and Anne was twenty-seven. They had been trying for two years to get pregnant, and so far, had failed. They knew it often took time, so at first, they were not concerned, but as the months rolled by their anxiety grew. Others had counseled that they were trying too hard and needed to relax, which seemed to Anne to be something much easier said than done. Their appointment had come after much soul searching and discussion, and she didn't want to go back having come this far.
"Please..." she implored him again.
He saw the needy, almost desperate look in her eyes, and not wanting to make her distressed, answered, "Okay, sweetie."
"Thanks!" she responded, practically beaming, and they reached for their door handles at the same time.
Just a few minutes later, they were in the waiting room filling out a stack of forms, and ten minutes after handing them in, they heard their names called. The clinic had told them when they called that they would need to come in for a consultation first and after that a visit for testing might be required. So, the couple was not surprised when they were escorted to an office with a small conference table rather than to an examination room.
"Mr. and Mrs. Mattsson? I'm Dr. Rabinowitz," the doctor said while extending her wrinkled hand.
Jason rose and took her hand while looking over the woman. It struck him as odd that someone so plain and unattractive would be in the field of reproduction. His first thought was that she might never have had sex before. The doctor noticed the look and instantly knew what it meant as she had seen it many times in her career, and even though she realized she should be used to it by now, it still irritated her immensely.
"Did you bring the questionnaire?" Dr. Rabinowitz asked.
The forms they had completed in the waiting room were about general health and insurance coverage. However, they had been directed to complete a long form they had received via the internet from the clinic staff, that focused on their sexual past and practices. Some of the questions were quite intimate, and had created some anxiety as they thought about revealing themselves to strangers. Nonetheless, Jason handed over the document and they sat quietly as the doctor went through it. She asked several follow-up questions about their general health and diet, then followed with more embarrassing ones.
"So, you're both certain there have been no past STDs?" she asked, then looking directly at Anne and added, "They can cause pelvic inflammations and other issues that affect fertility."
"No, nothing," the young wife offered quickly.
"And no injury? Like a sports injury even long ago when you were a child," she queried Jason.
"No," he responded.
"Tell me about your masturbation," she asked in a matter-of-fact way.
"Well...uhhh...I believe I answered..." Jason stammered, and his obvious discomfort even brought a smile to his wife's face.
"Mr. Mattsson, the reason I asked is because excessive masturbation can lower sperm count. I'm not trying to embarrass you, just ascertain the facts," she explained.
In truth, it had been a cheap shot that she had planned in response to his prior condescending look. A few more questions were asked, and the couple was directed to schedule a date for testing at the desk. In addition, the doctor gave them a pamphlet of practices that could aid in conception, although with a quick glance as they departed, it appeared to be similar to the information they had downloaded from the internet. Eager to move forward, the young wife selected the first available time, which was two weeks out.
"I didn't really like that," Jason said when they were back in the car.
"It wasn't that bad," his wife countered, and patted his arm.
For some reason, discussing fertility and baby making made him horny, so as soon as they were inside their small home, he guided his wife to their bed. Anne just giggled as he quickly stripped her, then looked up at him from the bed as he undressed. Jason knew that he had done very well getting Anne as his wife. She was a tall and slender beauty with soft brown hair and dark eyes. Her chest was a set of very firm C-cups with tiny nipples, that on her frame were very pronounced. In addition, she had a lovely mouth with full lips and when she smiled her eyes lit up and cute dimples formed in her cheeks.
Now though, her face had morphed to an expression of anxiousness and need, so as soon as he was naked, he climbed between her legs and buried his face into her shaved pussy, delightfully finding it already quite wet. Jason loved to give his wife oral sex and she loved to receive it so he lapped at her for several minutes while she stroked his hair. When her knees began to move towards her chest, he knew she was getting close. He planned to bring her to a climax with his tongue, then quickly enter her, allowing her orgasm to extend, and enjoy the feeling of her spasms until he fired his semen into her unprotected depths. They made love this way often, as it allowed Anne to progress without anxiety and still allow them to finish connected. It was exactly what they did, and when they were done, they embraced and cuddled.
"Maybe this time you're pregnant," the young husband whispered.
"Wrong time baby, but I like how you think," she giggled.
They made love twice more, only getting out of bed to eat a late snack before quickly returning. Although the sex had been fulfilling, they both stayed awake longer than normal thinking about the clinic and where it might lead.
Their anxiety built as the day of the testing approached, and when they arrived, they were separated with each going through a different protocol. For Anne, it turned out to be no more invasive than a gynecological exam, but Jason was deeply embarrassed when he was required to provide a semen sample. Tucked away in a quiet spot, it seemed to take forever, and he was unable to look into the face of the female nurse when he handed over the container. Finally, they were finished and were informed that they would be contacted to come in once all the results had been received.
Ten days later, Anne received a call from the clinic and was told they could come in the following week to meet with Dr. Rabinowitz and review the results. She tried to prod the woman for information, but she claimed to have no knowledge of individual cases. Thus, the young couple endured another stressful period until the appointment date finally arrived.
"As you know, we conducted a series of tests to aid in determining issues around the probability of fertility in your specific relationship," Dr. Rabinowitz started.
They were seated in the same conference room they had used during the initial consultation, having been directed to it as soon as they had arrived. With no formalities, the doctor had launched into the matter, and to the young couple it seemed to be coming much too fast.
"Yes," Anne replied nervously when the older woman paused.
"And, we have the results, which point conclusively to Mr. Mattsson's extremely low sperm count as the issue," she stated, inwardly feeling some glee in delivering the message.
"Low sperm count," Anne repeated slowly, as if trying to let it settle in.
When she turned towards her husband, she could see his face had gone ashen and he seemed to be stooped in his chair like all the energy had left his body. They started at each other for several seconds without speaking before Jason straightened up.
"Okay, I mean how low?" he asked.
