I didnt want to believe what I was afraid she was trying to tell me. So I smiled and said, Hey, thats a really healthy attitude, acting like youve really got a stake in it.
Im not talking attitude, KB. Im talking reality. She sighed. Im talking making a baby from two women.
The trouble with modern life is that there isnt any etiquette any more. Things change so much and so fast that even if Emily Post were still around, she wouldnt be able to devise a set of protocols that stay abreast of tortured human relationships. If Alexis had dropped her bombshell in my mothers day, I could have said, Thats nice, dear. Now, do you like your milk in first? In my Granny Brannigans day, I could have crossed myself vigorously and sent for the priest. But in the face of the encroaching millennium, all I could do was gape and say, What?
Im not making this up, you know, Alexis said defensively. Its possible. Its not even very difficult. Its just very illegal.
Im having a bit of trouble with this, I stammered. How do you mean, its possible? Are we talking cloning here, or what?
Nothing so high tech. Look, all you need to make a baby are a womb, an egg and something to fertilize it with.
Which traditionally has been sperm, I remarked drily.
Which traditionally has been sperm, Alexis agreed. But all you actually need is a collision of chromosomes. You get one from each side of the exchange. Women have two X chromosomes and men have an X and a Y. With me so far?
I might not have A level biology, but I do know the basics, I said.
Right. So youll know that if its the mans Y chromosome that links up with the womans X chromosome, you get a little baby boy. And if its his X chromosome that does the business, you get a girl. So everybody knew that you could make babies out of two X chromosomes. Only they didnt shout too much about it, did they? Because if they did more than mention it in passing, like, it wouldnt take a lot of working out to understand that if all you need for baby girls is a pair of X chromosomes from two different sources, you wouldnt need men.
Youre telling me that after twenty-five years of feminist theory, scientists have only just noticed that? I couldnt keep the irony out of my voice.
No, theyve always known it. But certain kinds of experiments are against the law. That includes almost anything involving human embryos. Unless, of course, its aimed at letting men who produce crap sperm make babies. So although loads of people knew that theoretically it was possible to make babies from two women, nobody could officially do any research on it, so the technology that would make it possible science instead of fantasy just wasnt happening. The journalist was in control now, and Alexis paused for effect. She couldnt help herself.
So what happened to change that? I asked, responding to my cue.
There was a load of research done which showed that men didnt react well to having their wives inseminated with donor sperm. Surprise, surprise, they didnt feel connected to the kids and more often than not, families were breaking up because the men didnt feel like they were proper families. Given that more men are having problems with their sperm production than ever before, the pressure was really on for doctors to find a way of helping inadequate sperm to make babies. A couple of years ago, they came up with a really thin needle that could be inserted right into the very nucleus of an egg so that they could deliver a single sperm right to the place where it would count.
I nodded, light dawning. And somebody somewhere figured that if they could do it with a sperm, they could do it with another egg.
Give the girl a coconut, Alexis said, incapable of being solemn and scared for long.
And this doctor, whatever her real name is, has been doing this in Manchester? I asked. I know they say that what Manchester does today, London does tomorrow, but this seemed to be taking things a bit far.
Yeah.
Totally illegally?
Yeah.
With lesbian couples?
Yeah.
Who are therefore technically also breaking the law?
I suppose so.
We looked at each other across the table. I didnt know about Alexis, but I couldnt help banner headlines flashing across my mind. The thought of what the tabloids would do with a story like this was enough in itself to bring me out fighting for the women who had gone underground to make their dreams come true, let alone my feelings for Alexis and Chris. And the baby Chris is carrying belongs to both of you? I asked.
Thats right. We both had to have a course of drugs to maximize our fertility, then Helen harvested our eggs and took them off to the lab to join them up and grow them on till she was sure they were OK. She did four altogether.
If I looked as aghast as I felt, Alexiss face didnt reflect it. Chris is having quads? I gasped.
Dont be soft. Course shes not. Theres a lousy success rate. You have to transplant at least three embryos to be in with a shout, and then its only a seventy per cent chance that one of thems going to do the business. Helen transplanted three, and one of them survived. Believe me, in this game, thats a result.
So what happened to the other one? I asked. I had a horrible feeling I wasnt going to like the answer.
Its in the freezer at home. In a flask of liquid nitrogen.
Id been right. I felt slightly queasy at the thought and reminded myself never to go looking for a snack in Alexiss kitchen. I cleared my throat. How do you know it works? How do you know the babies areOK?
Alexis frowned. There was no way of proving it objectively. We had to take Helens word for it. She introduced us to the first couple she had a success with. Their little girls about eighteen months now. Shes a really bright kid. And yes, I know they could have been bullshitting us, that it could have been a racket to rip us off, but I believed those two women. You had to be there, KB.
I thought I could probably make it through the night without the experience. I see now why you thought theyd take the baby off you, was all I said.
Youve got to help us, Alexis said.
What exactly did you have in mind? I asked.
Helen Maitlands files, Alexis said. Weve got to get rid of them before the police find them.
Why would the police be looking for them in the first place? I asked. Like I said, its a straightforward burglary gone wrong.
OK, OK, I know you think Im being paranoid. But this is our childs future thats at stake here. Im entitled to go a bit over the top. But theres two reasons why Im worried. One, suppose it didnt happen like the YP says? Suppose the person who killed Helen Maitland wasnt a burglar. Suppose it was some woman whose treatment hadnt worked and shed gone off her box? Or suppose it was somebody whod found out what was going on and was blackmailing Helen? Once the cops start digging, you know they wont stop. They might not be well bright, but you know as well as I do that when it comes to murder the bizzies dont ignore anything that looks like it might be a lead.
I sighed. She was right. Coppers on murder inquiries are never satisfied till theyve got somebody firmly in the frame. And if the obvious paths dont come up with a viable suspect, they start unravelling every loose end they can find. Whats the second reason? I asked.
She had consulting rooms in Manchester. Sooner or later, somebody is going to notice shes not where she should be when she should be. And eventually, somebodys going to be emptying her filing cabinet. And if I know anything about people, whoever goes through those files isnt going to be dumping them straight in the bucket. Its only human nature to have a good root through. And then me and Chris are chopped liver, along with all the other dykes Helen Maitland has given babies to. Alexis finished her cigarette and washed it down with a couple of gulps of her drink. We need you to find those files.
I crossed my legs at the ankles and hugged my knees. Youre asking a lot here. Interfering with a murder inquiry. Probably burglary, not to mention data theft.
I crossed my legs at the ankles and hugged my knees. Youre asking a lot here. Interfering with a murder inquiry. Probably burglary, not to mention data theft.
Im not asking for a favour here, KB. Well pay you.
I snorted with ironic laughter. Alexis, is this how you really think my professional life works? People walk in and ask me to break the law for money? I thought you knew me! When punters walk into my office and ask me to do things that are illegal, they dont stay in the room long enough to notice the colour of the carpet. When I have to break the law, I go out of my way to make sure my clients are the last to know. If I do this for you, it wont be because youre offering to pay me for it, itll be because I decide it needs to be done.
She had the grace to look abashed. Im sorry, she groaned. My heads cabbaged with all this. I know youre not some mad maverick burglar for hire. Its just that youre the only person I know whos got the skills to get us out from under whatevers going to happen now Helen Maitlands dead. Will you do the business for us? The look of desperation that had temporarily disappeared was back.
And what if the things I find out point to a conclusion you wont like? I asked, stalling.
You mean, if you uncover evidence that makes it look like one of her lesbian patients killed her?
Thats exactly what I mean.
Alexis covered her eyes and kneaded her temples. Then she looked up at me. I cant believe thats what youll find. But even if you do, is that any reason why the rest of us have to have our lives destroyed too?
Just call me the girl who cant say no.
Chapter 7
The pleasant, caring atmosphere of the Compton Clinic hit me as soon as I walked through the door. Air subtly perfumed and temperature controlled, decor more like a country house than a medical facility, bowls of fresh flowers on every surface. I could almost believe they employed the only gynaecologists in the world who warm the speculums before plunging them deep into a womans most intimate orifice. I made a mental note to ask Alexis about it later.
The clinic was in St John Street, a little Georgian oasis off Deansgate that pretends very hard to be Harley Street. The doctors who have their private consulting rooms there obviously figure that one of the most convincing ways of doing that is to charge the most outrageous prices for their services. From what Id heard, you could make the down payment on one of the purpose-built yuppie flats round the corner on what theyd charge you to remove an unsightly blackhead. If Helen Maitland demanded that kind of price for her treatments, I couldnt imagine there were enough dykes desperate for motherhood and sufficiently well-heeled to make it worth her while. But then, what do I know? Im the only woman Im aware of whos been using the pill and demanding a condom since she was sixteen.