Joss Wood - With Love From Cape Town

But it was too late for second thoughts. She had made a commitment and she never backed out of anything, regardless of the personal cost. Somehow, although she didn’t know how, she would have to lock her feelings back down, deep inside. It was the only way she could continue. She had done it before, and she could do it again. Couldn’t she?

NIALL sat across the desk from Mr and Mrs Thomas trying, but not quite succeeding, to ignore the cameras. After studying the financial projections, he had been forced to agree with Lucinda. The clinic needed to attract extra funding. So he had agreed to the documentary, but it didn’t mean he had to like it. And to add to his discomfort, Real Life Productions had insisted that Niall, given his international reputation, be the one to appear on camera. Mark, the third doctor, and Elaine had made no secret of their relief that they wouldn’t have to.

‘You’re used to appearing in public,’ they had teased. ‘God knows, your picture has appeared in the press often enough recently.’

They were right, but only because the press wanted pictures of Dr Zondi and her husband, out together and still very much in love. The press hadn’t a clue, Niall thought bitterly, and it was just as well. The thought of having his personal life discussed in the papers made him squirm.

Robina had chosen an unobtrusive spot, just to the left of his patients. She was looking drawn, Niall thought with a stab of anxiety. Holding that baby had hurt—she had put her professional face back on, but the way she was nibbling her lip told him she was struggling to hold it together. Damn it! He should never have agreed to this project. Never mind about the finances of the unit, they would manage somehow—but would Robina? He didn’t care what she had said about being able to cope—she was more affected than she’d imagined she’d be. But the woman was stubborn. He knew that to his cost. He dragged his thoughts away from his wife, concentrating on the anxious man and woman in front of him.

Mrs Thomas, Eilidh, was 38, and her husband already had a child by a previous marriage. Either of these reasons on their own made them ineligible for NHS treatment.

‘We only met a year ago,’ Eilidh was saying with a fond look at her husband Jim. ‘I had more or less given up on meeting the man of my dreams. Then he walked into the room and, bam—just like that. We fell in love.’

Niall couldn’t stop himself from sliding another glance at his wife. He knew exactly what Eilidh was talking about.

But if the same thought occurred to Robina there was no sign of it. In the last few moments she seemed to have managed to get her emotions under control. Cool, calm Dr Zondi was back, and she was concentrating intently on what Eilidh was saying.

‘We started trying for a family…when was it, love?’ Eilidh turned to Jim for confirmation. ‘About six months ago. I know it isn’t long, but my GP thought that, given my age, we shouldn’t wait before we sought expert advice. So here we are.’

She’s anxious, Niall thought as Eilidh chewed on her thumbnail. But then again, almost everyone who ever sat in that chair was nervous. They came to him filled with their hopes and dreams, hoping that he’d be able to work some magic that would give them the child they so desperately longed for. And most of the time he did. But not always. However, he knew there was a good chance he could help the hopeful couple in front of him.

‘I have the results of your tests here,’ he said.

Eilidh gripped Jim’s hands and chewed more fiercely on the thumbnail of her free hand.

‘Bill’s sperm test is perfectly normal—that’s the good news. But the test we did for your ovarian reserve, Eilidh, shows that, as we’d expect from someone your age, your fertility is declining.’ Niall kept his voice matter-of-fact.

‘What does that mean?’ Eilidh asked. Her pale face lightened another shade.

‘It means that you are unlikely to conceive naturally, but are a good candidate for IVF,’ Niall explained.

Eilidh sank back in her chair and smiled with relief. ‘Thank God,’ she murmured. ‘I was terrified you were going to tell us it was hopeless. That getting pregnant was impossible for me.’

‘It doesn’t mean I can promise you a pregnancy,’ Niall continued. ‘Sometimes, no matter what we do, women still fail to conceive. And sometimes they conceive but are unable to carry the pregnancy to term. I don’t want to paint a negative picture, but you should be prepared.’

But Niall suspected even as he said the words that Eilidh and Jim weren’t really listening. Like so many couples, they couldn’t bring themselves to think about the possibility of failure. ‘That’s why,’ he added, ‘we suggest you make an appointment with our counsellor. You don’t have to see her but I would recommend it. She’s excellent and is there should you need to talk to someone neutral at any time through this process.’

Niall couldn’t prevent another glance at Robina. Sure enough, her eyes had widened in surprise. When they had first started experiencing problems in their marriage, she had suggested a counsellor. But he had refused. The thought of airing their dirty linen to a stranger was just too much. If she had truly loved him, they should have been able to sort things out themselves. Now he wondered if he should have agreed.

He took the couple through the process; how the clinic would take control of Eilidh’s cycle and give her drugs which she would need to inject every day for roughly ten days. In addition, Eilidh would have to come in for regular scans of her ovaries as well as blood tests.

He went on to describe the side effects of the drugs and didn’t mince his words when he explained the more unpleasant aspects of the treatment.

‘Are you sure you want to put yourself through this, love?’ Jim asked his wife. ‘I didn’t think it would be so…awful for you.’

Eilidh looked her husband straight in the eye. ‘What does it matter if we get a baby at the end? I’ll be all right. I can do anything as long as I have you!’

They smiled at each other and Niall felt a flash of envy. If only he and Robina could share their troubles in the same way.

‘Once your ovaries are producing enough follicles and are at the right stage,’ he continued, ‘we take you to Theatre and you’ll be given a sedative. We remove as many eggs as we can from your follicles and then we will use Jim’s sperm to fertilise them in the lab. At that point the fertilised eggs become embryos. Depending on how many fertilise, we will make a decision on when to put one, or two, back. Either day two, three or day five. Are you following me so far?’

Eilidh and Jim nodded mutely.

‘How do you decide whether to replace one or two embryos?’ Jim asked.

‘Essentially it’s up to you. The HFEA, the UK regulatory body for fertility clinics, recommends that only one embryo is replaced at a time. That’s because twin pregnancies carry a greater risk of complications. However, the chances are smaller of one embryo implanting successfully. We’ll go over it again when we get closer to that time but, as I said, the final decision will be yours.’

Jim and Eilidh nodded sombrely. ‘I think we’d like to know more before we decide how many embryos to have put back,’ Jim answered for them both.

‘Good decision. It’s a lot to absorb in one go,’ Niall said gently, ‘but you’ll be seeing one of our specialist nurses on a regular basis. They will be only too happy to answer any questions you may have as we go along, and they have stacks of literature that you can take away with you. Does that sound okay?’

‘Does it hurt—I mean the bit where you take the eggs?’ Eilidh asked.