Lady headed to Broto's practice room, which is in one corner of an elite hospital in the South Jakarta area. Last night, she had scheduled a consultation with him.
"Excuse me, I have an appointment with Doctor Broto, on behalf of Ladyane Wilson," said Lady to Broto's assistant.
"Wait a moment, Ma'am," replied the girl in the nurse's uniform, inviting Lady to sit down. The girl was seen knocking on the door of Broto's room three times before opening it.
"In the name of Ladyane has come, Doc," she said.
"Thanks, Nira." Broto rushed to the door. The girl sat back in her chair, facing the reception desk.
"Hey Lad. Come in." Broto greeted with a smile. Lady replied, smiling while nodding. The beautiful woman stepped into Broto's room.
"Wow, we haven't seen each other for a long time, huh? Five years?" Broto started a conversation while inviting Lady to sit down.
"Around that. I saw on Instagram, your child has walked, yes," said Lady, making small talk.
"Yep. Eh, are you here for a consultation or a visit?" Broto is curious about his former crush.
"If it's a friendly visit, I think it will be more comfortable for us to meet outside," replied the woman in front of her. Lady's answer could hint that her visit was certainly a patient.
"Okay, so what can I do to help you?" Broto realized that until this moment Lady still didn't have the special feeling for him, like he did. This woman's attitude is still the same as before.
Lady then tells of their plan to have a child by renting another woman's womb. Broto was very surprised to hear Lady's explanation and did not expect that he and his husband had to take such a path to have children. He tried to persuade Lady to cancel the strange intention.
"Surrogate mother can be done if the mother's womb is weak. Not just for aesthetic reasons, Lad. Think again, okay? Being a mother is something exciting and proud for a woman. And again ... it's not as easy as that to find a woman who wants to rent her womb. Plus, the risk is that she will fall in love with the baby in her womb. Most people don't have the heart to let go of the baby after experiencing the process and struggle of giving birth, especially after seeing the baby's face and breastfeeding. There are many things that you need to think about carefully." Broto tried to give an explanation.
"What if I'm barren? So, it is impossible for me to have children." Lady uttered with trembling lips. It was obvious she was trying to hold the tears that pooled in her eyes from sliding down.
"What do you mean? Don't make such claims if you haven't done the test, and ...."
"I've tested. From four months of our marriage, I've tried the test because I was curious about myself who didn't get pregnant with our sexual intensity, which was fairly frequent, even almost every day." Lady cut Broto's sentence.
Broto looked at the woman in front of him, who cried. He took some tissue and held it out to Lady. For a few moments, they were silent to each other. Lady tried to calm herself before then continued to talk.
Four months into their marriage, Lady saw a doctor. At first, she just wanted to consult about the pregnancy program if they could run. That's when the doctor suggested checking herself first, before choosing and determine the program to be taken.
Lady then underwent a series of tests. She hasn't told Kala all that yet and plans to have a discussion after the test results come out. Lady's test results said that she had polycystic ovary syndrome which made it difficult for her to produce eggs. Can never produce an egg. So, it was impossible for her to conceive and give birth to a child.
This bitter fact made Lady very sad. After receiving bad news from the doctor, she immediately flew to Europe for a two-week vacation to calm down. Of course, until now, Kala did not know about this.
Since then, Lady always said that she was not ready to be a mother. She put forward various reasons, until she found the most appropriate reason for refusing to get pregnant, namely wanting to stay slim and beautiful. Kala often persuaded her to want to get pregnant, but she always refused. Rent a uterus she always proposes as a solution.
Finally, in their third year of marriage, Kala agreed to his wish to rent a womb. Why should they hire a beautiful woman? Because the egg must have come from her, not Lady. It's one secret that she wants to hide from everyone.
"So you're planning on having a child from another woman's egg and renting her womb at the same time?" Broto was surprised to hear Lady's story.
"My plan. Kala doesn't need to know that," said Lady firmly.
"Wait, it will be more difficult for you. The woman must give up her biological child to be your child. Just renting a uterus is already heavy, you know. The mother can fall in love with the child she is carrying, even if there is no blood relationship at all. This... her biological son. Actual child."
As Broto explained earlier, many times the surrogate mother agreed with all the agreements at the beginning, but after giving birth and seeing the baby, let alone breastfeeding, the maternal instinct could no longer be contained. It is very difficult to separate the inner attachment between a mother and her biological child.
"That's why I need your help, Broto. The woman does not need to know that the egg used is hers. Everything will be our secret. You and me." Lady gazed at the handsome doctor's eyes in front of her.
Broto was very surprised. He didn't expect that a series of sentences could come out of the beautiful lips of a woman who had made him fall in love until now. That's too cruel.
"That's impossible, Lad." He shook his head.
"Nothing is impossible, Broto. You can arrange and do all that for me, please." Lady tried to persuade.
Broto explains that all that Lady thinks is against the law also violates a doctor's code of ethics. Not only that, against conscience, humanity, religion, and existing norms. It's crazy and reckless. How can they take an egg without permission, take care of the fetus by renting the woman's own womb, give birth to a tiny baby, then separate it from its biological mother?
"Very inhumane and hard for me to do, Lad. Sorry." Broto sighed, which suddenly felt tight.
"So, it's useless. I have a friend who is a famous obstetrician who can't help me," said Lady.
"It's not like that, Lad. I will help as much as I can. But this request of yours is impossible." Broto said slowly. His heart felt sick for rejecting the woman's request.
"What can I give you to make you want to help me? Please, Broto. My life is at stake here. I don't want a divorce, let alone a marriage, just because I'm barren!" Lady was a little emotional saying that.
"Do you want to see us divorce, or maybe Kala has another wife or an affair? Do you like to see me struggling and suffering?" she continued.
"I can marry you, if you divorce." Broto's answer was completely unexpected by Lady. The stupid answer she had not expected.
"Crazy! Then I become a second wife or mistress. Do you like that?" sneered Lady. "Who do you think I am?"
"I can divorce my wife, for your sake," answered Broto confidently.