LOOKING FOR SOLUTIONS
Anil and Shweta looked around nervously. The room had a very cheerful, friendly look. It was freshly painted in a pleasant shade of light pink. On the walls were pictures of plump, cuddly babies of various ages and races. All of them looked so cute and roly-poly. Looking at them, Shweta felt a twinge of pain. On another wall was a chart showing a foetus in the mother's womb. All around were arrows sticking out with legends against them explaining the anatomy and physiology of pregnancy. There was one more chart showing a woman with a foetus in her womb at various stages of pregnancy.
Dr. Aparna was a pleasant, matronly looking woman of around 40 or 45 years of age. She looked very well groomed with her hair in a rather severe knot and not a hair out of place. She looked exceedingly fresh considering she had had a particularly heavy day, during which she had performed a couple of hysterectomies, a few D&Cs and supervised the arrival of a baby or two into this world. Well, it was not for nothing that she was highly popular and had a roaring practice.
After a few preliminaries and history taking, Dr. Aparna asked to examine Shweta. 15 minutes later, she declared that Shweta was apparently quite healthy. There were no obvious problems and she would have to perform some more checks on her, requiring more complicated procedures, before she could say anything for sure. However, she would first like Anil to undergo tests to determine whether there was any problem with him. Anil squirmed at the thought, but finally acquiesced.
Next day, Anil went to a pathological lab and submitted his semen for testing. The results were expected that evening. At work, neither Anil nor Shweta said a word about this and there was an uncomfortable silence between the two. Shweta did not want to talk to Anil, as she was scared of him when he was in an irritable mood.
Evening came and Anil's report showed that his sperm count was very low. This did not do much to improve his mood. Next day, they went back to Dr. Aparna's office. After studying the report, she appraised the couple of all their various options with all the pros and cons. They heard her out, and promised to be back after discussing the matter with their family.
Back home, neither could eat too well. After dinner a conference was once again adjourned in their parents' room. After much discussion, it was decided that adoption was the best way out for them. This way, any embarassing, time consuming and expensive procedures would be avoided. Besides the biggest advantage would be that a homeless, orphaned child would get a loving family and parents, and Anil and Shweta would be proud parents of a child they desired with all their hearts.
Dr. Aparna was a pleasant, matronly looking woman of around 40 or 45 years of age. She looked very well groomed with her hair in a rather severe knot and not a hair out of place. She looked exceedingly fresh considering she had had a particularly heavy day, during which she had performed a couple of hysterectomies, a few D&Cs and supervised the arrival of a baby or two into this world. Well, it was not for nothing that she was highly popular and had a roaring practice.
After a few preliminaries and history taking, Dr. Aparna asked to examine Shweta. 15 minutes later, she declared that Shweta was apparently quite healthy. There were no obvious problems and she would have to perform some more checks on her, requiring more complicated procedures, before she could say anything for sure. However, she would first like Anil to undergo tests to determine whether there was any problem with him. Anil squirmed at the thought, but finally acquiesced.
Next day, Anil went to a pathological lab and submitted his semen for testing. The results were expected that evening. At work, neither Anil nor Shweta said a word about this and there was an uncomfortable silence between the two. Shweta did not want to talk to Anil, as she was scared of him when he was in an irritable mood.
Evening came and Anil's report showed that his sperm count was very low. This did not do much to improve his mood. Next day, they went back to Dr. Aparna's office. After studying the report, she appraised the couple of all their various options with all the pros and cons. They heard her out, and promised to be back after discussing the matter with their family.
Back home, neither could eat too well. After dinner a conference was once again adjourned in their parents' room. After much discussion, it was decided that adoption was the best way out for them. This way, any embarassing, time consuming and expensive procedures would be avoided. Besides the biggest advantage would be that a homeless, orphaned child would get a loving family and parents, and Anil and Shweta would be proud parents of a child they desired with all their hearts.
