“Shouldn’t they be moving more?” she asked

“Yeah. That’s what I wanted to show you. I am so sorry to tell you but that stuff wouldn’t get anyone pregnant. Those little fellows just don’t have what it takes.”

Bette watched the screen for a bit longer. Sean’s sperm was lackluster, low motility, no motility.
Bette and Tina’s hopes of getting inseminated that morning were dashed. “How are we going to break this to Tina? She was so ready to do this today; we both were.”

“I’m so sorry Bette, but these things happen. I know how anxious you and Tina are to get pregnant.”

“What should we do now?” Bette asked trying to keep the hopelessness from settling in.

“If you really want Sean to be your donor then I would suggest he see his doctor, have some test run. There may be some treatment to improve or increase the motility.”

“I don’t think we could ask him to do that doc. He’s been so gracious donating sperm month after month. It never occurred to us that he was the problem; he’s so virile. We’ll let him know the results and leave it up to him to get treatments but I don’t think we can ask him to do this just for us.”

“I understand Bette. Maybe you and Tina should consider using an anonymous donor from a sperm bank. This way you’ll know for sure that the sperm is viable. It’s pretested and can be frozen so no need to be in constant contact with the donor each month.”

“Tina and I will have to talk about it. We really wanted the donor to be someone we both know; even if he’s not going to have anything to do with raising the baby.”

“OK, but just keep your options open. We should get back. I’m sure Tina is wondering what is going on.”

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to be the one to tell her doc. Can you give us a few minutes?” Bette asked.

“Of course. Take as long as you need. I’ll be in my office.” Dr. Wilson gave Bette’s shoulder a squeeze before walking away. The brunette took a deep breath and composed herself before she entered the exam room where Tina was waiting. She was very disappointed and on the verge of tears but she had to be strong for her wife.

“Hey Tee.” She greeted her wife with the familiar nickname.

Considering how long they were gone, and noticing that Bette entered the room alone Tina’s anxiety kicked in again. “Hey. What’s going on? Where’s Dr. Wilson?”

“I asked her to give us a few minutes.” Bette answered quietly.

Tina smiled seductively hoping that Bette had returned alone to finish what she’d started a few minutes ago. “You did leave me kind a hanging there you know. I would have finished it myself if it weren’t …”

“I’m so sorry Tee.” Bette interrupted. She was having a hard time holding back her emotions. Tina sat up from the bed and swung her legs over the side. “Babe what’s going on? What’s wrong?”
Bette came to stand between Tina’s legs and took both her hands and squeezed them.

“Tee, Dr. Wilson is waiting for us in her office. We can’t do the insemination today.”

“What … why not?” Noting the early signs of one of Tina’s anxiety attacks, Bette kept hold of her hands and kept her eyes focused.

“Baby, she called me into the other room to show me the sperm analysis. It’s not viable Tee. Low sperm motility has been the problem all along. Sean’s sperm can’t get you pregnant. I’m so sorry Tee. I’m so sorry…”

Tina let go of Bette’s hands and pulled her into a tight hug. They stayed like that holding each other for a while, both crying as the emotions overtook them. They’d pinned all their hopes on Sean being the perfect donor. Considering Alice’s personal endorsement of his skills as a lover it never occurred to any of them that he would not be able to father a child. Tina was devastated. She couldn’t believe that they’d wasted six months trying to get pregnant with sperm that wasn’t viable. As she thought about how this was affecting Bette, she considered selfishly that in a way it was gratifying to know that it wasn’t her failure that had caused the infertility, but that didn’t make the news any more bearable.