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"Soo, and all the records were lost But I got the student yearbooks and searched them Each year the class was a hundred and twenty students, half female That means sixty males Eliminate Asians and other minorities, you have about thirty-five a year Back then sperm didn&039;t keep for more than a year or so I ended up with about a hundred and forty naht"

Bennett slumped down in his chair

"But you want to know the truth? When I saw your picture in theabout your hair, your eyebrows" She shrugged "Anyway, here I am"

"But this was never supposed to happen," Bennett said "We were all anonymous donors Untraceable No one would ever knohether we had children or not And back then, our anonyiven"

"Yeah, well Those days are over"

"But I never agreed to be your parent That&039;s ed "What can I say?"

"I wasn&039;t having a child I was helping infertile couples so they could have a child"

"Well, I&039;m your child"

"But you have parents"

"I&039;m your child, Dr Bennett And I can prove it in court"

There was a silence They stared at each other The baby drooled and squirmed Finally, he said, "Why did you coical father"

"Well, you&039;ve ations Because of what he did to me"

So there it was Finally out on the table

"Miss Murphy," he said slowly, "you&039;ll get nothing from me"

He stood She stood, too

"The reason I&039;enes"

"Don&039;t be absurd"

"Your father was an alcoholic and you had drug troubles of your own You carry the genes for addiction"

"What genes?"

"AGS3 Heroin dependenceDAT 1 Cocaine addiction You have those genes, and so do I You gave enes You never should have donated defective sper about?" he said, suddenly agitated This woer "I donated spero There were no tests back thenand there is no responsibility now"

"You knew," she snapped "You knew you had a problem with cocaine You knew it ran in your faed, dangerous sper who you infected"

"Infected?"

"You had no business doing what you did You&039;re a disgrace to the enetic diseases And not giving a daitation, he somehow found self-control He reached for the door "Miss Murphy," he said, "I have nothingret this very, verysuddenly drained,Bennett collapsed into the chair behind his desk He was in a state of shock He stared at his desk, at the files for his waiting patients None of it seemed to matter, now He dialed his attorney, and explained the situation quickly

"Does she want money?" the attorney said

"I assume so"

"Did she tell you howthis seriously?"

"Unfortunately, we have to," the attorney said "This happened in Missouri, and Missouri had no clear laws regarding paternity from artificial insemination back then Cases like yours were never a problem until quite recently But as a rule in paternity disputes, the court orders child support"

"She&039;s twenty-eight"

"Yes, and she has parents Still, she can , she can claierment, she can claim child abuse, and whatever else she can pull out of a hat Maybe she&039;ll get soe, s are stacked against nant and she decides to have an abortion She can do that without consulting you But if she decides to give birth, you&039;ll pay support, even though you never agreed to have a child with her The court will say it&039;s your responsibility not to have gotten her pregnant in the first place Or suppose you do genetic testing on your kids, and discover they&039;re not yours - your wife cheated on you The court will still require you to pay support for kids that aren&039;t yours"

"But she&039;s twenty-eight years old She&039;s not a child - "

"The question is, does a proo to court on a case that involves not supporting his own daughter?"

"No," Bennett said

"That&039;s right, you don&039;t She knows that And I assume she knows Missouri law, too So wait until she calls back, arrange a , and call me If she has an attorney, all the better Make sure he coave you"

"I&039; to have to pay her off?"

"Count on it," the attorney said, and hung up

CHapter 062

The deskofficer at the Rockville Police Station was an attractive, smooth-skinned black woman of twenty-five The desk plate readOFFICER J LOWRYHer uniforhter close to the other side of the desk She set the paper bag of syringes in front of the policewohter has these things, but she refuses to tell lared at her "I hate you, Molanced at the syringes She turned to Georgia&039;s daughter "Were these prescribed to you by a physician?"

"Yes"

"Do they involve matters of reproduction?"

"Yes"

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen"

"Can I see soia Bellar forward "And I want to know - "

"I&039;m sorry, ma&039;as involve reproductive issues, you have no right to be inforht to be inforhter She&039;ssixteen "

"That&039;s the law, ma&039;a an abortion I don&039;t knohat the hell she is doing These are fertility drugs She&039;sshooting up fertility drugs "

"I&039;hter is allowed to inject drugs into her body, and I a on?"

"Not if she won&039;t tell you, no"

"And what about her doctor?"

Officer Lowry shook her head "He can&039;t tell you, either Doctor-patient privilege"

Georgia Bellar "This is ridiculous"

"I don&039;t make the laws," the policewohonant?"

"No" Sitting there with her arms folded Furious

"I mean, you&039;re sixteen, that shouldn&039;t be a proble?"

"You made me feel like anidiot "

"Honey, I&039;m just concerned"

"No you&039;re not You&039;re a nosy, evil bitch I hate you, and I hate this car"

It went on like this for a while, until finally Georgia drove her daughter back to school Jennifer got out of the car, sla the door "Andyou , and she had canceled two appointia went into the office, set the bag of needles on the floor, and started dialing

The office"Wow," she said "Aren&039;t you a little old for this?"

"It&039;s not hter?"

Georgia nodded "Yeah"

"It&039;s that Dr Vandickien," Florence said

"Who?"

"Down in Miairls take hors to hiia said

"Buy breast ireat"

She wanted her husband to talk to Jennifer, but unfortunately, Rob was on a flight to Ohio, where they were ment about him That discussion - which was sure to be fiery - would have to wait

CHapter 063

Riding theunderground tra Room, Senator Robert Wilson (D-Vermont) turned to Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California) and said, "I think we ought to beFor exa woirls already doing that, Bob," Feinstein said "They sell their eggs now"

"Why, to pay for college?"

"Maybe a few Mostly, they do it to buy a new car for their boyfriend, or plastic surgery for the hasthat been going on?" he said

"A couple of years now," Feinstein said

"Maybe in California"

"Everywhere, Bob A teenager in New Hampshire did it to make bail for her boyfriend"

"And this doesn&039;t trouble you?"

"I don&039;t like it," Feinstein said "I think it&039;s ill-advised I think irlstheir reproductive futures But ould be the basis for banning it? Their bodies, their eggs" Feinstein shrugged "Anyway, the boat&039;s sailed, Bob Quite a while ago"