Chapter 7 - PATRICIA HAD KEPT ALLEN’S SAMPLE FOR A CHILD WHO NEVER EXISTED
Patricia came to my apartment voluntarily.
No attorney.
I had mine on speaker.
She looked tired.
“When Allen got cancer, we were still married.”
That fit.
They already had Derek.
Patricia wanted another child.
Allen did too.
He froze sperm before treatment.
After recovery, their marriage deteriorated.
They never used it.
During divorce, Allen told clinic to destroy sample.
Patricia stopped destruction.
Why?
She hoped they would reconcile.
They did not.
Then she forgot? Not exactly.
Years later, she paid storage twice when clinic threatened disposal.
Then Derek took over fees after Allen stopped.
So sample survived.
Did Patricia ever authorize Derek to use it?
“No.”
“Did he ask?”
Once.
A year before Emily’s conception.
Derek asked:
“Would it be weird if family genetic material helped us have a baby?”
Patricia thought he meant comparing genes or perhaps using donor from cousin?
She said:
“Do whatever your doctor says.”
Not informed consent.
Derek later claimed verbal family approval.
Again stretching permission.
Then Patricia found out during pregnancy?
No.
She learned only now.
Then why note “reserved per Patricia request” relevant? Just preservation history.
Not conspiracy.
Good.
Then Allen contacted.
He blamed Patricia for sample existing.
She blamed him for leaving.
Old marriage reopened.
I refused mediate.
Not mine.
Then Derek’s sworn disclosure.
He admitted choosing Allen as backup.
He admitted Dr. Lane told him after embryo transfer that Allen sample had been used due vial coding error? Wait was it error or intentional? Records. Lab tech claimed Derek handwrote:
“ALM preferred if motility superior.”
That would mean not backup.
Derek denied.
Handwriting expert?
Likely his.
Then email to Lane before procedure:
If Dad’s sample is better, use it. Anna just needs a successful cycle.
There.
He had authorized preference.
Not accident.
So he deliberately chose father’s sample if quality better.
Clinic still should have obtained my consent.
Then Derek admitted:
“Yes.”
Why had he earlier said Michael first?
Because it sounded less disturbing.
Another lie.
Then I asked:
“Were you ever planning to tell me?”
He stared.
“No.”
That was final.
I could co-parent with boundaries.
But I would never trust his narrative without verification.
Then custody arrangement changed?
Court focuses child. Derek had not harmed Emily, but deception showed judgment. Evaluation recommended co-parenting therapy and structured decision-making, not removing father.
We established:
Medical decisions shared with neutral tie-break process.
All communications written.
No unilateral travel/school decisions.
Fine.
Then Emily turned one.
We held two small celebrations.
Not because hostility.
Schedules.
Derek sent gift.
A book.
No flashy.
Then he wrote:
I know I’m not entitled to forgiveness. I’m trying to become someone she can trust even if you never do.
Good.
Then I rebuilt.
I returned to work.
Accepted promotion I had once refused.
Employer allowed hybrid.
Rachel came monthly.
I bought townhouse in Columbus.
Mine.
Not fancy.
Safe.
Then finances recovered.
Settlement from clinic placed mostly into a protected account for Emily’s future medical/therapy needs and my damages.
I did not become rich.
I became stable.
Then a strange letter arrived.
From Mitchell Strategic Health Solutions’ former accountant, Kevin Sanders.
He had closed Derek’s LLC.
Found a sealed file marked:
ANNA - DO NOT SEND UNLESS DIVORCE FINAL.
Derek had created it.
What was inside?
A life-insurance policy.
On me.
$3 million.
Owner:
Mitchell Family Trust.
Beneficiary:
Emily Mitchell.
Not Derek.
Interesting.
Policy taken out early pregnancy.
Did I know?
I signed life-insurance application? Yes, maybe with employer? I remembered nurse exam. Derek said routine family planning.
Beneficiary Emily after birth.
Why hide?
Maybe not malicious.
Then trust successor trustee:
Patricia.
Derek excluded himself.
That looked protective.
Then another policy.
On Derek.
$3 million.
Beneficiary:
Anna.
So he had planned mutual protection.
Not every hidden thing was sinister.
Then Kevin said:
“There’s more.”
A letter from Derek written before Emily was born.
Anna,
If something happens to me, there’s enough money for you to never depend on my family.
My chest tightened.
He knew dependency was wrong in death planning while practicing it alive.
Then:
I know I’ve been hiding income. I keep telling myself I will tell you after the baby.
Again.
He had awareness before fifteen dollars.
Then:
I’m afraid once you know how much I hid, you’ll leave.
He was right.
Then:
Sometimes I think if you leave first, I won’t have to admit I caused it.
That explained kitchen cruelty.
He wanted abandonment narrative.
Then last line:
I love you, and I’m becoming someone I would tell my sister not to marry.
I cried.
Not because I wanted him back.
Because he knew.
Then why not change?
Knowing is not doing.
Then Kevin found one financial transaction.
$75,000 payment to Northstar Fertility.
Far more than treatment cost.
Some was “confidentiality reserve.”
Derek had paid clinic to keep donor identity confidential from me.
There.
Intent explicit.
Then another $50,000 to Allen Mitchell.
My stomach dropped.
Why did Derek pay his father?
Allen had told me no knowledge.
Payment date:
Three weeks before embryo transfer.
Memo:
FAMILY MEDICAL RIGHTS.
Allen had received money.
He had lied.
I called through attorney.
He admitted.
Derek offered $50k for legal release allowing use of preserved sperm.
Allen signed.
He said he thought use would be for “family fertility assistance.”
Did he know I was recipient?
“No.”
Did he know it could create his biological child with his daughter-in-law?
He looked ashamed.
“The document said reproductive use.”
So yes, possibility.
He took money.
Then later claimed nonconsent.
Another clean victim story collapsed.
Why lie?
Shame.
Then legal consequences.
Allen may have consented to use, reducing his claim.
My consent still absent.
Core.
Then the release had one witness.
Patricia Mitchell.
No.
She signed as witness.
She had seen Allen sign.
Did she know?
She told me she had no idea.
Another lie.
I called.
She began crying.
“I thought it was for you and Derek.”
“It was.”
She thought donor would be Allen? Yes.
Derek told her my eggs + Allen sperm because he was infertile.
She was shocked but convinced it kept “family blood.”
She agreed to secrecy because Derek begged.
She had known entire pregnancy.
She asked me about baby names while knowing my child was biologically her ex-husband’s.
My support system shifted again.
Then I said:
“You told me you raised him better than this.”
She whispered:
“I helped him do it.”
Exactly.
May you like
And I realized Derek’s secrecy had not been built alone.
It had been protected by a whole family terrified of admitting infertility.
