Broken Bonds by Jennifer Lahl

Author:Jennifer Lahl
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Spinifex Press
Published: 2019-02-08T16:00:00+00:00

I Am an Incubator

Natalia (Russia)

As told to Eva Maria Bachinger3

Natalia arrives with her husband. They live in a block of flats in a downtrodden part of Moscow. They have suggested we meet in a shopping centre. But when I get there it is deafeningly noisy. Men dressed as Spiderman and Batman shout into microphones to encourage children to play. There are no cafés here and it’s rather unpleasant to contemplate a walk. The weather is cold and humid. The remaining snow has turned black. Cars speed along on the freeway; drivers don’t care that they drive through potholes of brown sludge. Pedestrians have to move to the side to avoid getting wet.

The baby growing in my tummy is the child of a 36-year-old Russian woman who lives with her husband in an expensive part of Moscow. I don’t know any more and I don’t want to know more. No one knows about my pregnancy, only my husband. No one must know about it. I am five months’ pregnant but it’s hard to see a baby bump. Many people think I am younger than I am. When I put on make-up I look a bit older. My husband’s and my son is ten years old. I was a very young mother but that was no problem as we already lived in the same apartment.

Obviously I eat well, I don’t smoke, and I don’t drink alcohol. I am a responsible person. When I have reached 36 weeks I am required to stay in Moscow. In the contract it says I have to attend lots of medical appointments but I only go to the clinic for a check-up once a month. It’s handy that the clinic is around the corner from the apartment that the clinic is providing for us during the duration of the pregnancy.

As a matter of fact I wanted to donate egg cells but they would not let me. I don’t know why not. Then they suggested I could work as a surrogate mother and we decided to do that. We try not to take everything too seriously and we laugh a lot. We are not really thinking a lot about what’s happening – what is the point? I will get a million rubles (about 12,000 euros) after the birth, and already now 20,000 rubles a month. We want to buy a house. It’s our only chance to earn so much money so fast. We would have to rob a bank because we simply will not get a loan from them. We don’t have a stable income. My husband works as a casual labourer in the construction industry when there is work. I study law.

I was simply looking for a way to earn good money. We are realists, there is no other way. Because of the changing value of the ruble, we are not sure if this will be enough money for a house and we are worried. But we can always do some of the work ourselves. My husband

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