Free The Two Week Wait by Sarah Rayner

this far by public
transport, and she’s not allowed to drive. Sofia has another stab of remorse. It would be typically generous of Anna to step in. Sofia can’t suppress a touch of jealousy.
    Meanwhile, a slide of a Petri dish under a microscope appears on the screen.
    ‘Another benefit of egg sharing,’ says Dr Hassan, ‘is that it reduces strain on the National Health Service or similar public funding bodies in other countries.’
    Anyone would think this old man was running a charity, Sofia thinks, not making thousands of pounds from each woman he treats.
    At that moment, as if spooked by her inner criticism, the speaker drops his microphone. While he retrieves it from the floor, Sofia acts fast.
    ‘I’m just going to find my friends,’ she whispers to the woman with the clipboard, and scoots down the central aisle.
    *  *  *
    ‘Excuse me.’
    Cath looks up. There’s a woman standing at the end of the row, a few seats away. In the half-light, Cath can just make out dark hair and a denim jacket.
    ‘Do you mind if I squeeze in?’ The woman points, clearly embarrassed, and Cath sees there is an empty chair on the far side of Rich.
    All the people in the row stand to make room, Cath included. As the woman passes (treading on Cath’s toe) Cath observes she is quite young and pretty, with the sort of thick, wavy hair
Cath would dearly love to have herself. Once the woman is seated, she taps on the shoulder a parka-clad woman directly in front.
    ‘Lou?’
    A swivel of a head, a gasp: ‘Sofia! Thank God you’re here!’ and Cath recognizes Lou from the queue. ‘What the bloody hell happened to you last night?’
    ‘I’ll tell you later. Don’t want to interrupt the talk.’
    Dr Hassan is reunited with his microphone and is poised to resume.
    ‘Humph.’ Lou turns to face the front again. There’s something about the line of her shoulders and tone of voice that make Cath conclude she is annoyed in the way a partner
would be. What is the story there? she wonders. I thought she was with the woman with the bob. But much as she savours working out the dynamics of strangers’ lives, she wants to hear what Dr
Hassan is saying.
    ‘So, as I’ve mentioned, with egg sharing, the egg recipient bears the cost of treatment for the donor. It’s here I’d like to explain more about the benefits of IVF. It
goes without saying that if you’re looking to get pregnant without a male partner, you’ll need a sperm donor. Many gay and single women might therefore think that a sperm donor is all
they will need, and there’s no requirement for IVF. Whereas IVF can play a big part in making it easier – and surprisingly less expensive – to conceive in the long run.
    ‘Let me take you back a stage. IVF or “in vitro fertilization” means the egg cells are fertilized by sperm outside of the body. “In vitro” literally translates as
“within the glass” and involves hormonally controlling ovulation, removing eggs from a woman’s ovaries and letting sperm fertilize them in a fluid. The fertilized egg is then
transferred to the uterus to try and establish pregnancy. Every time a woman undergoes IVF, several eggs will be harvested from her ovaries to maximize the chance of success, some of which will not
be used. With egg sharing, she will donate these eggs to another woman whose eggs are too poor to be used in her own IVF cycle.’
    That’s me, thinks Cath. I don’t have any eggs at all.
    ‘Next, let me show you what I find to be a very interesting chart.’ The doctor points at a fresh slide. ‘If we take a closer look you’ll see donor insemination has a
success rate of just over 25 per cent. However, if you combine donor insemination with IVF, the success rates go up to 69 per cent. That’s quite a difference. Moreover, if you’re a gay
or single woman looking to become pregnant, if you choose to go the egg-sharing route, in return for donating some of your eggs you can enjoy free IVF. Which