This was literally Kelly's last chance in the programme. She was nineteen and had not yet even been pregnant, let alone given birth. At this age, most of her peers had already birthed at least two live young and were busily gestating their third. To say that Kelly was lagging behind was an understatement.
Her local reproductive health advocate was unable to provide any plausible explanation either. Kelly had undergone menarche at twelve and a half, had an extraordinarily regular cycle and came from a family of prodigiously breeding females. By the age of nineteen, both her mother and grandmother were pregnant with baby number three and even her younger sisters were already pregnant with their first and second offspring respectively.
Kelly fidgeted nervously as she awaited judgement.
"So, I see that you had reached the recommended weight and height by around fifteen and a half?" the advocate asked rhetorically scanning Kelly's file.
"OK, and so you had your first impregnation attempt in your school clinic at age sixteen." the advocate continued.
"And you've had how many? What seventeen?" the advocate asked.
"Yes, seventeen." Kelly confirmed.
"Seventeen impregnation attempts to date." the advocate said nodding.
"Correct." Kelly confirmed meekly.
"And no miscarriages? You know, a missed cycle for a month or two before a crampy restart?" the advocate asked.
"No, nothing like that." Kelly replied.
"And it appears that on the whole, your family also has a very high fecundity index." the advocate added.
"Yes." Kelly mumbled.
"Well, if it wasn't for your family's high FI, we'd probably have reached a dead end, however, I think that we should try you with a traditional super breeder." the advocate advised.
"A super breeder?" Kelly repeated.
"Yes, a man with a very high traditional impregnation success rate, specialising in natural conception methods." the advocate explained.
"Oh, I see. What's a 'natural conception method'?" Kelly replied.
"Well you know how when a female is ready to conceive, she goes the local fertility clinic and they impregnate her with sperm from storage?" the advocate asked.
"Yes, and the RHA injects sperm directly into her uterus through her vagina. They've done that countess times for me already." Kelly replied.
"Exactly. Well that's not the only way to make a baby you see. Long ago, before the dark times, people made babies in a different manner." the advocate said.
Kelly drew in a sharp breath and asked, "You don't actually mean...."
"I'm afraid I do, but I'm surprised that you know about that." the advocate replied.
"Yes, a school friend told me about it once." Kelly said.
"Have you seen it?" the advocate asked in shock.
"No, and I'm a little confused. My friend said that the male's penis gets long and hard and he sticks it inside the female's vagina. Sort of like what you do during an impregnation appointment." Kelly stated.
"That's right." the advocate said with a nod of her head.
"So a male is going to, um, really? Um, put his penis inside my vagina?" Kelly asked.
"I'm afraid so." the advocate confirmed.
"Surely there's another way." Kelly asked, almost begging.
"I'm afraid not Kelly. You're nineteen! Standard methods of conception have not worked with you, this is very literally the last step before you are declared legally barren." the advocate stated.
"Legally barren!" Kelly exclaimed.
"I have no choice Kelly, it's the law." the advocate explained sadly.
These days, to be declared 'legally barren' was not quite the death sentence that it used to be. Society had advanced to the point where it had started to accept that some females were just not fertile and would be unable to contribute directly to the repopulation effort.
At first, the families of the LBs saw it as their patriotic duty to eliminate them, to remove the unproductive drain on resources, and the source of shame, from their midst. It was later discovered that, with sufficient preparation, LBs could be induced to lactate, allowing the fertile women to return to reproduction earlier than normal whilst the LBs fed the young. This saved many LBs from elimination, but turned them into an unofficial lower caste.
*** Three and a half weeks later ***
Dennis walked over to his desk and logged into his computer so that he could check his appointments for the day. He was relieved to see that there were only three. He could manage four sometimes, but two or three was his productivity sweet spot. The first one was a nineteen year old LB candidate. The next was a thirty seven year old that had not been able to reproduce for three years and the final one for the day was a semi-regular, a twenty nine year old that only ever seemed to conceive successfully with him so she had travelled for today's session.
The dark times started without great fanfare. It was thought that people were having smaller families because of increasing education and access to healthcare, etcetera. It wasn't for quite some time that it was determined that male fertility levels were plummeting around the globe. About twenty to thirty percent of females were affected too, but it was mostly males. The population decline rapidly turned into a crash.
Initially, it seemed that males still produced apparently healthy, motile sperm. Unfortunately, those sperm were simply unable to fertilise an ovum. As things progressed further, impacted males encountered erectile issues. Now, if a male was unable to have an erection by the age of about ten, there was a 99.974 percent chance that he would be infertile and was destined to a life of menial toil.
Dennis' office was reasonably well-appointed. He had a good sized desk with a visitor's chair. Although most of his work was computer-based, he still had some personal effects like a photograph of his family, some pens and pencils and a small bowl of mints.
He also had his own ensuite with toilet, sink and shower as well as a comfortable reading chair in the corner complete with an overhead lamp. An examination table was next to the main door and on the other side was a raised double bed.
Dennis looked at the first appointment on his list and then to the clock just before a gentle knock sounded on his door.
"Come in!" Dennis called from behind his desk.
His door opened slightly before an older woman stuck her head through the small opening and asked, "Are you ready for your first appointment Dennis?"
"Yes thanks Ruth. Send her in." Dennis replied cheerfully.
As Ruth's head disappeared, Dennis' door closed once more. Not wanting to scare the young first‑timer, Dennis stood, put on his robe and made sure that it was fastened securely. He took one step towards his door before he registered what was an almost imperceptible knock. Taking another three steps towards the door, Dennis leaned forward and opened it.
Once his door was fully open, he was greeted with a sight that he'd seen many times before. A terrified young lady, wearing a robe very similar to his, almost hyperventilating, eyes wide open, filled with dread an uncertainty. Dennis gave her a big friendly smile, extended his hand and said, "Hello, come in. I'm S107, but you can call me Dennis!"
Without making eye contact, the young lady took Dennis' offered hand, shook it and said simply "Kelly."
"Pleased to meet you Kelly. Have a seat." Dennis said as he stood aside pointing towards the visitor's chair in his office.
Once Kelly had entered the room, Dennis switched on the 'Session in Progress' sign, closed the door and then headed over to his desk and took his seat opposite Kelly.
"I know that you are nervous Kelly, but please try to relax. I'm here to help you. Here please, have a mint." Dennis said in a reassuring voice as he offered Kelly a small bowl of confectionery items.
"OK, thanks." Kelly replied reaching for a mint before putting it in her mouth.
"Why don't you give me a bit of background Kelly?" Dennis asked.
"It's very embarrassing." Kelly replied timidly.
"I assure you Kelly, I've heard this many times and I'm simply here to help." Dennis responded in a soothing tone.
"Well, um, I'm nineteen and I haven't had a baby yet." Kelly said without making eye contact.
