Chapter 2 - WHAT AN ULTRASOUND COULD ACTUALLY SAYDr. Evans did not let any of us turn her examination room into a courtroom.
That saved me from making several mistakes during the next five minutes.
Derek said:
“So you’re saying it’s mine?”
Dr. Evans answered immediately.
“No.”
His face hardened.
I felt my stomach drop.
Then she continued.
“I am saying the dating does not support the timeline you apparently believed excluded you.”
Important difference.
Ultrasound could estimate gestational age.
It could not identify a father.
My measurements placed the pregnancy at approximately twelve weeks and six days.
Pregnancy dating counts from the last menstrual period rather than the moment of fertilization, so conception was typically about two weeks later.
Allowing for normal measurement variation, Dr. Evans said the conception window still fell before Derek’s May 30 vasectomy.
And then she told him something that made me look at him in disbelief.
“A vasectomy does not produce immediate sterility.”
Derek blinked.
Jessica looked away.
Dr. Evans continued:
“Patients are normally instructed to use another form of contraception until post-procedure semen testing confirms clearance.”
Derek’s voice became quieter.
“I had a test.”
“When?”
“Six weeks after.”
“Was it negative?”
“Yes.”
“That tells you what was present in your semen six weeks after the procedure. It does not tell you that conception could not have occurred before the procedure.”
I stared at Derek.
For seventeen days he had spoken as if surgery had divided his life into a clean before and after.
Before: fertile.
After: impossible.
He had thrown the word impossible at me repeatedly.
Dr. Evans looked toward Jessica.
“Are you part of the patient’s medical decision-making?”
Jessica shook her head quickly.
“No.”
“Then I need you to leave unless Sarah wants you here.”
“I don’t.”
Jessica left.
Derek hesitated.
I said:
“You too.”
“Sarah.”
“Out.”
He looked at Dr. Evans.
She did not rescue him.
He left.
The door closed.
Then I started crying.
Dr. Evans handed me tissues.
“I know that was a lot.”
“He said I cheated.”
“I gathered that.”
“He left.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Can the dates be wrong?”
“Not by the amount he appears to be assuming.”
“So the baby could be his.”
“Yes.”
I laughed once.
Not because anything was funny.
Dr. Evans added:
“But if paternity becomes a legal or personal dispute, ultrasound dating is not a substitute for DNA testing.”
I nodded.
That sentence would matter later.
May you like
At the time, all I heard was:
Derek had destroyed our marriage over a certainty that had never existed.
Related Stories
