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Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 7:53 pm
Tzvi rushed busily over the sidewalk, hooves clicking on concrete. He was still in his work clothes, a sharp, dark suit and tie with a rather bright red shirt beneath it. He was late for his appointment with the fertility clinic, his very, very important, possibly life-altering appointment. It was hard to unnerve the cheerful stag, but his face showed little worry lines around his mouth and his ears twitched nervously every once in a while. After several minutes too long of hustled trotting, he finally came in sight of his goal
Double Trouble Fertility Clinic, Tzvi couldn't help but smirk a bit at the odd name. He slowed slowed as he approached it collecting himself and smoothing a bit of his rumpled fur and clothing. He took a comforting sip of tea from the sleek silver thermos in his hand. He gathered his courage and clopped merrily in, pushing open the door with one hand. He ducked to avoid getting his horns caught in the frame, and looked at the interior before him.
It was deceptively plain and quiet for someplace that advertised 100% results, and twins at that. He was honestly expecting a place more... grand, or magical, or science-y as such places tended to be in Tzvi and Cybele's frustrating past experiences. Instead it appeared to be a perfectly normal, honest, fertility clinic waiting area. Tzvi's ears perked up a little with promise as he spotted the receptionist's desk.
"Hello there!" Tzvi said cheerily, approaching the counter with echoing hoof clacks, "My name's Tzvi Dillinger, I have the two o' clock appointment slot with Dr. Ronchas for a consultation." He glanced up at the clock, 2:17 PM... Ouch. "I apologize for my tardiness, but I came from work downtown and the traffic was horrendous! I ended up parking a few blocks from here and walking the rest of the way," the tall deer-man offered a large shrug with an apologetic grin on his face, "I understand if Dr. Ronchas has dropped his appointment with me. If so may I reschedule another appointment now? That is if you're not too busy..." He glanced at the empty waiting room, then turned his attention back to the female receptionist, his charming smile still plastered to his face as he waited for a response.
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Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2010 9:50 am
Selma looked at the man over her glasses, loath to answer him, as he had interrupted her reading. The magazine in front of her was opened to some tabloid-style scandal involving a pregnant woman who claimed Ron Bruise was the father. But it didn't look like he was going to leave her alone unless she did something. She picked up the phone and hit the button to contact Ronchas in his lab at the back of the building. "You're two o'clock is here," she said, her voice monotone and bored. She didn't even wait for his reply before hanging up the phone. Knowing Ronchas he'd be there before the deer-man had a chance to sit, so she went back to her magazine.
It took a little longer than Selma had anticipated, but Ronchas trotted up from the back with his usual grin plastered across his face. "Afternoon, mister Dillinger." He went to shake the man's hand, not planning to mention his tardiness. The clinic wasn't exactly busy anyway.
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Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2010 8:04 pm
The woman behind the receptionist desk gave Tzvi an annoyed look over her glasses. The deer's ears drooped a little but he grinned, clutching his thermos in his hands. He was relieved when she picked up the phone by the desk and called for Dr. Ronchas. Tzvi didn't make a movement to sit, but remained standing, waiting anxiously for the doctor. While he waited his fixed up his collar and tie, which had been skewed a bit during his hurried walk to the clinic. For a moment he was worried the doctor really wasn't at the clinic, but then Dr. Rochans came trotting out of one of the doors. Tzvi threw his hands up in exaggerated relief and took the man's outstretched hand, giving a firm shake.
"Ah, good afternoon Dr. Ronchas. Thank you for agreeing to consult me about your clinic. I imagine you are a er," Tzvi glanced at the mostly empty clinic, "busy man." He released the good doctor's hand and his ears pricked up, "Shall we go to your office then?" he offered, assuming that was where any consultations took place. He took a calming sip of tea.
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Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 9:09 am
"Right to it then," Ronchas said with a smirk. "Right to it. I like a direct man." He led the deer-man to his office where he sat behind his desk and offered the other a seat in one of the chairs in front.
"Were you here for an insemination or tube birth?" Ronchas asked as he was opening the file. Though when he looked down at it, he immediately apologized. "Oh I'm sorry, my mistake, my mistake. Is miss..." He double-checked the name. "Baily not joining us today?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 1:05 pm
Tzvi followed quitely behind Ronchas, taking the opportunity to look around at the clinic. He ducked into the room and sat down in one of the chairs. He glanced sideways at the empty chair beside him, the room was designed for couples, and his ears sagged a little. He turned to Ronchas with a smile however, and said "Oh, well, she couldn't make it, I know that I scheduled this appointment for both of us but there was some emergency at work and she couldn't leave." His fingers drummed quickly across the table and he took a sip of tea, figuring out how to approach the next statement.
"No disrespect to you or your clinic Dr. Ronchas but we also weren't quite ready to take the plunge and get the shot yet," he put his palms up in a gesture of confession, "We wanted to talk about your options as... well, several fertility clinics have promised us results and then failed to produce them. I wanted to make sure you could handle our... special case first."
Also our funds set aside to fertility treatments are running low and I don't want to waste anymore than we have to on empty promises... Tzvi thought absentmindedly. His brain automatically began running numbers and costs and possible outcomes to their spending. He shook the thoughts away and focused back on Dr. Ronchas. He glanced at the file and straightened up a bit trying to get a peek, he hadn't been the one to provide them with the information so he wasn't sure how much the good doctor knew about him and Cybele.
"First off," he began, lacing his fingers together, "We've been tested and Cybele and I aren't terribly genetically compatible. Because we're different species a lot of places have told us that we have no hope at all of having children..." He trailed off and looked down his smile faded. His interlaced fingers tightened so he was clutching his own hands. "It's why we need fertility treatment." he added. Really there was one more, much more serious reason that they needed help having kids, but he would drop that bombshell after dealing with the first.
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Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 4:04 pm
Ronchas listened quietly, nodding here and there, a light smile on his face. When the deer-man was finished with his explanation, Ronchas let his smile grow.
"It appears you've come to the right place," Ronchas assured him. "The right place, indeed." Ronchas looked down at the folder for a moment, flipping through a few pages. "While you're technically not compatible, I've done extensive studies in genetic integration and have already helped many otherwise incompatible couples conceive." Ronchas gestured at a file cabinet. "I would show you the files, except that would breach doctor-patient confidentiality. But I'm sure you already know that."
"But if you're still not sure about it, I might add that we have a policy about failure on our end." Ronchas added finally. "If the two of you are unable to conceive children--yes, likely two children--from this treatment, we will give a full refund." He nodded. "But failure is highly unlikely at this stage." Ronchas leaned back in his chair confidently, resting his arms on the arms of the chair.
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Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 4:37 pm
Tzvi pricked his ears forward as he listened to the doctor's confident assurances of success. He smiled gently at his words, feeling assured. Yes, there had other places that had promised that too, and really they were right to assert that for most couples. Tzvi breathed a sigh and collected himself.
"The other thing is... Cybele... she's-" Tzvi made vague hand motions as if trying to get his hands on an idea that kept shifting sizes and shapes. He paused for several seconds, trying to determine how Cybele would want her secret told to someone in the medical buisness. He always hated explaining this part of their relationship. He always got stares.
"Cybele is spiritually and emotionally a woman... but she wasn't born one... That is, she's genetically a male... Which means she doesn't produce eggs," Tzvi finally managed to get out, "She's had hormone treatment to look like one but she's still completely male besides that." He glanced back up at Ronchas, a smile on his face, but it was more of a defense mechanism against his unease and his thin eyebrows showed a hint of worry. He wasn't positive what kind of reaction to expect from the doctor, he had seen so many ones since he started dating Cybele. His hand darted to his thermos of tea and he clutched it in both hands.
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Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 5:08 pm
"Aaaah." Now it was coming together. It made sense now, all the difficulties of bearing a child in a conventional sense. Even if they weren't completely genetically compatible, that could be worked with. If the were the same gender, that could be worked with. If one had changed gender, that's something that was surprisingly difficult to work with, for most, but Ronchas was up to the challenge. In fact, he was already brainstorming the method.
"I think I can help you," he said, tone finally changing from the usual lighthearted Ronchas to a slightly more serious face, though the grin that remained was a sure sign that this challenge made him excited. Not that it was particularly eerie or anything.
"It's unlikely she'll be able to give birth naturally, when the time comes, but a Cesarean section would probably be fine. And it's likely I will need to perform an Artificial Insemination, for the genetic incompatibility. But other than that, I will simply need DNA from the both of you and about a month's time to do all the work it will require."
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Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 11:27 am
Tzvi listened silently as the doctor excitedly went over the proceedure. As he went on, slowly Tzvi seemed to straighten up his ears pricking up with every word. His normally thin, squinted eyes opened wider revealing his rainbow hued eyes. His grin widened and his hands loosened up from one another.
"You can do it!?! Oh that's positively wonderful!" Tzvi clapped his hands together in glee and leaned back in his chair. He looked ecstatic, and he paused a second, blinked and then leaned forward looking at Ronchas.
"Cesarean section? Thant would mean... You're saying Cybele can carry the children like a regular mother?!" the deer man who was regularly in constant motion of some sort was stock still, staring at Ronchas expectantly with his multi-hued eyes. Cybele had become so beaten down about all the failed attempts at children. Tzvi knew that she thought it was her fault. She would be so thrilled if she could actually carry the children with her as they grew. Honestly, they had been expecting to have to have some of those test tube babies or to have a surrogate mother for their children.
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Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 12:42 pm
"Indeed," Ronchas replied. "I regularly perform artificial insemination for men so they are allowed to carry the child. It's most popular in male couples, but occasionally I get a request from a heterosexual couple." Ronchas chuckled. It was true, actually, though no one had gone through with that kind of procedure yet.
"There's also the option," Ronchas was sure to inform him. "It's a tube incubation." He didn't figure it would be their preferred method, but he had to mention it. "But that option is very impersonal."
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Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 2:01 pm
Tzvi relaxed and settled back into his chair. His wide eyed look was lost but his toothy grin of happiness remained plastered on his furry features. "No she'll definitely want the artificial insemination," Tzvi said nodding his head a bit, "as do I. We feel the same as you in the case of test tubes, we didn't know that they weren't and option in our special case..." There was a long pause as Tzvi seemed to think excitedly over things.
"EEEEEEEE! I'm gonna be a daddy!!!" Tzvi finally burst out throwing his hands in the air and nearly jumping out of his chair. The chair tipped back on its back two legs and Tzvi windmilled his arms to keep balance. The chair came back down with a thud and Tzvi clutched the arms to keep himself from toppling forward out of the chair once it was settled.
"Sorry about that," Tzvi coughed nervously brushing a white strand of hair out of his face and composing himself with an embarrassed grin. His little outburst was not very manly or professional of him. Desperate to change the subject he glanced back a little sheepishly and said, "You said you needed DNA from both of us right? Will hair work? I accidentally grabbed my fiancee's brush this morning on the way to work..."
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Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 4:36 pm
Ronchas chucked a little at his outburst, but said nothing since it seemed the deer-man would probably like it forgotten.
"Hair will be fine. Normally, I'd need either semen or an egg, but in your case with the species and gender difference, it doesn't really matter what I use from her." He paused a moment. "From either of you, for that matter."
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Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 7:29 am
Tzvi was thankful for the doctor passing over his little outburst. Normally he would not have minded so much for others to see him so excited, but he felt extremely high strung and nervous at the moment. He nodded at the Ronchas as picked up his suitcase from the floor. He opened it up, snapping the clasps and took out a brush. He squinted close at it and pulled out as many blond hairs as he could.
Tzvi wasn't much of a science person, so he wasn't sure how much the doctor needed. By the time he was done carefully picking out hairs he had a good pinch full of wispy, short, blond hairs. He glanced at the doctor, feeling a little like hair was some sort of inferior sample of DNA compared to eggs and semen like the doctor normally got, but it was all he had at the moment. He thought for a moment and then quickly reached up and grabbed a pinch of his own hair and tugged sharply. The clump of hair came out and Tzvi winced.
Now Tzvi had his fiancee's blond hairs in one hand and his own brown and white hairs in the other. "This will be good enough? I can give a better sample of my own if you want," he said smiling and presenting both samples to Ronchas. Another thought struck him, "Uh, when should Cybele and I come in for treatment?!" he asked.
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Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 7:54 am
Ronchas winced when Tzvi did. He could have given him scissors, after all. But it was already done and mentioning it might have made the poor deer-man feel even more awkward. "Those are fine." Ronchas assured him. "I will call you in about a month so you can set up another appointment at your convenience. If I don't call, feel free to give us a call, in case Ms Selma neglects to send out a message," he chuckled a bit at the idea, letting the other man wonder on his own why Ronchas would keep such a seemingly lazy secretary around. "Still, I will probably call you myself." He grinned widely. "I have a personal interest in the outcome. I love to see my hard work benefit others."
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Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 8:27 am
"Excellent!" Tzvi beamed as he handed over the hair. He picked up his tea and for the first time since the meeting started took a large gulp of the hot liquid. He gave a large sigh and visibly relaxed, closing his eyes. "I'm so glad, and Cybele will be so happy..." he opened his eyes staring at the good doctor calmly. "A month then? I shall be awaiting the call eagerly!" He stood up from his chair and offered his hand to the doctor.
"Thank you so much for your time! Do I owe you anything for the consultation? I'd feel bad if you really didn't get any money for what you do," he seemed to have relaxed now and was giving his usual winning smile.
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