Writing from the stemistry lab
IVF
by Beverley Addy
The dish clatters on the bench. The shaking of the first-time hand. An inaudible pop as the syringe breaks the surface of the ovum. Whoosh. Sperm thrust in at unnatural rates. One begins its immediate involuntary burrowing. Coupling complete. Time ticks away as the two swell and merge. Nuclei melding in the cold, sterile surroundings. Taking security from each other. Nestling within each other’s bond in a vast emptiness of the stark glass dish. Incubation has started and soon the lonely beginnings divide — nature’s demand for company. And again, irrepressible multiplication. Like microscopic eggs. Ovate, gleaming, wet, shinning new life. Divide and conquer — but not just yet. The air of anticipation is palpable. There’s a silent buzzing. A still jostling. Everything is happening and yet nothing yet.