But Marissa’s patience paid off, and she soon found herself mesmerized by the meeting. A number of the women stood up and addressed the group, telling their own stories.
It was an emotional experience for Marissa as she heard story after story with which she could identify. When one woman confessed to screaming at a shopper in a grocery store who she thought was neglecting her children, Marissa nodded, remembering the teenage mother with the dirty child.
Even one of the husbands got up to talk, making Marissa particularly sorry that she’d been unable to get Robert to come.
He talked about the stress from the male point of view, giving Marissa, a slightly better appreciation of what Robert had been trying to tell her about his response to “performing.”
One woman lawyer stood up and spoke of the need for couples going through unsuccessful IVF to grieve for their lost potential children. After eloquently outlining such couples’ predicaments, she added quietly, “If there were formal supports for the inferm tiles’ grief, maybe my friend and colleague Rebecca Ziegler would be with us tonight.”
For a few moments, after the lawyer sat down, the room maintained a respectful silence. Clearly many had been touched by mention of the dead woman. When the next speaker got up, Marissa turned to Wendy.
“Was Rebecca Ziegler a frequent attendee of these meetings?” she asked.
“Yes, poor thing,” Wendy said.
“I even spoke with her at the last meeting. It was a shock to hear she’d killed herself.”
“Had she been very depressed?” Marissa asked.
Wendy shook her head.
“I never saw signs of it.”
“I saw her the day she died,” Marissa said.
“In fact, she hit my husband.”
Wendy looked at Marissa in surprise.
“It was at the Women’s Clinic. She was out of control,” Marissa explained.
“Robert was trying to restrain her. The curious thing was that she didn’t act depressed then either. She was angry, yes, but not depressed. Was she pretty calm in general?”
“Seemed to be every time I saw her,” Wendy said.
“Weird,” Marissa said.
“Time for a coffee break,” Susan Walker announced after the final speaker.
“Then we’ll have tonight’s guest give her talk. We are honored to have with us Dr. Alice Mortland from Columbia Medical Center in New York. She will be talking to us about the newest aspects of GIFT, or Gamete Intra-Fallopian Transfer.”
Marissa looked at Wendy.
“Are you interested in the lecture?” she asked.
“Not in the slightest,” Wendy said.
“With both my fallopian tubes stopped up, GIFT can’t help.”
“Holy Toledo!” Marissa exclaimed.
“I’ve got the same problem: sealed tubes.”
“My word,” Wendy said with a short laugh of disbelief.
“What are we, identical twins? Let’s pretend we’re in medical school and skip the lecture. We could sneak down to hat bar with he Cheers flag and catch up.”
“Will we offend the hostess?” Marissa asked.
“Not Susan,” Wendy assured her.
“She’ll understand.”
Ten minutes later, Marissa and Wendy were seated opposite each other in low-slung vinyl chairs. They were at a large mullioned window that looked out on busy Beacon Street with the darkened Boston Garden beyond. In the light of the lamps, the grass was just starting to become green, one of the first signs of spring.
Both women ordered mineral water and laughed at each other.
“No alcohol! Well, hope springs eternal,” Wendy said.
“I had my fourth embryo transfer about a week ago,” Marissa admitted.
“Another coincidence,” Wendy said.
“So did I. Only mine was my second. What program are you involved with?”
“Women’s Clinic in Cambridge,” Marissa said.
“I don’t believe this,” Wendy said.
“I’m there as well. Dr.
Wingate?”
“Yup!” Marissa said.
“Dr. Carpenter is my regular GYN man.
I have Dr. Wingate for in-vitro fertilization.”
“I go to Megan Carter,” Wendy said.
“I’ve always preferred a woman gynecologist. But I had to go to Wingate since he runs the IVF show.”
“It’s amazing we haven’t run into each other,” Marissa said.
“But then again, they are very good about the confidentiality side of things, which is one of the reasons I started using the clinic in the first place.”
“My feelings too,” Wendy said.