Prologue - The Story Begins

• Author: Maureen McTeer
• Pages: 5-6

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– prologue –

The Story Begins1

One day many decades ago, a doctor was visited by a woman desperate to

have a child. Her husband was a friend of his, and an important man in

the community. She had tried for two years to become pregnant without

success. e doctor knew there was nothing wrong with her, but that the

problem was with her husband — he was sterile.

e doctor cared about his female patient, but his greatest concern

was for his friend. What would others think of him if they learned that

he could not father a child? How would his career and lofty position in

society be aected? ere had to be a solution.

at night, the doctor shared a pint at the local pub with another

doctor — one who treated animals, not humans. e veterinarian told a

fascinating story of how he had begun to use a technique to articially

inseminate cows on one of the larger local farms. It had worked well, he

explained, and he planned to use the technique more widely, as it saved

the farmer a lot of work and would also protect the purebred cows from

being injured by being mounted by a frantic bull.

e following morning, as the doctor drank his tea and remembered

his discussion the previous evening, an idea came to him. If it worked for

cows, he reasoned, why not for women? When he saw his patient again,

he told her that she must keep trying to conceive. She and her husband

would make wonderful parents, he insisted. He then asked her to track

her menses that month so she would know the short time frame when

she would be fertile. He instructed her to return to his oce at that time.