But understanding.
The Backstory (What She Didn’t Tell Me)
Elena had always been private about her past. I knew she’d donated eggs in college—she’d mentioned it once, casually, like it was no big deal. I hadn’t thought about it since.
What I didn’t know was that the family who received those eggs had contacted her a year ago. Their child—a beautiful little girl—had been diagnosed with a rare blood disorder. She needed a bone marrow transplant. The family had no matches. They reached out to Elena, desperate.
She was a match.
But the transplant required her to be in close medical proximity to the child for months. She couldn’t do that without raising questions. So she offered another solution.
She would carry their next child. A sibling. A perfect genetic match.
The family agreed.
Elena never told me. She was afraid I’d think she was crazy. She was afraid I’d leave. She was afraid I wouldn’t understand why she had to help a family she’d never met.
She was right about one thing: I didn’t understand. Not at first.
But I was about to learn.
