“I went ahead with the arrangements but I didn’t give in. I did make a stand.”

“How did you make a stand?”

“I didn’t tell her when I was ovulating. I wasn’t planning to use the sperm. We’d discussed using an African American donor but I think she should have told me. I didn’t know how I would react until faced with the idea of giving birth to a bi-racial child.”

“How did Bette react to you rejecting the donor?”

Tina: You put me in a fuckin’ awkward position. How could you not tell me that Marcus Allenwood is black?

Bette: God I … I don’t know. I guess I should have. I just didn’t think it would be a problem for you to use a black donor.

Tina: I didn’t say I didn’t want a black donor. I just think we should have discussed it.

Bette: We absolutely discussed it Tina. Right at the very beginning. We said that if you were going to be the birth mother, that we should consider finding an African-American donor. That way the child would be more like our child.

Tina: But I wasn’t prepared.

Bette: I don’t understand. Other than being committed to spending the rest of your life with me, what more do you need to do to prepare?

Tina: Look at me Bette. I don’t feel qualified to be the mother of a child who’s half African-American. I don’t know what it means to be black.

Bette: I think I can make a contribution in that department.

Tina: And don’t you think, on top of everything else, to also have two moms, that is a lot of otherness to put on one child?

“She saw it as me rejecting her heritage and sexuality. Then she gave in to my fears and we tried another avenue.”

“Another avenue?” Paul asked intrigued.

“A threesome with some random guy that neither one of us knew. He attended one of her art talks. He came on to us, and Bette had this crazy idea. We took him home with us to have sex.”

Bette: I have a thought. It might be crazy.

Tina: What?

Bette: I know you’re ovulating. Do you think he’s attractive?

Tina: Is he a good artist?