Billy’s thirty-eighth birthday was going to be this June. Yet, he still distinctly recalled how petrified he was when his college girl-friend, Cindy announced she was pregnant during his third year studying finance at MIT. This was during his third year in his finance degree at MIT. It was a serious, stable, 28 month relationship. However, despite his 95% average, he was grossly and willfully ignorant of female biology and physiology.
For instance, he never knew that changing brands or types of birth control can reduce the efficacy. Moreover, he never understood that not all women can tolerate daily consuming synthetic hormones. Furthermore, he was oblivious to the fact that long-term consumption of birth control is associated with a myriad of adverse side-effects, which ironically compromise its effectiveness. Also, he never knew that changing the consumption of the pill by as little as one hour, automatically reduced it’s efficacy. Moreover, taking an emergency dosage the next day was sometimes futile.
According to Cindy (who was a biochemistry major), the increased prevalence of birth control correlated with a concomitant rise in the incidence of inflammatory conditions in women. These inflammatory conditions, were sometimes incurable. Cindy also professed that at least five percent of the female population also naturally produce an enzyme that absorbs the contents of the birth control. So, instead of the pill suppressing ovulation, these women continue to ovulate haphazardly.
Initially, Billy panicked in disbelief when Cindy announced that both her First Response and Clear Blue tests were positive. She prudently decided to follow-up the home test with a blood test. However, Cindy’s OBGYN, Dr.Scheffield was not available for an appointment for six weeks. Yet, her period was already three weeks late.
During this agonizing waiting time, Billy was ensconced in anxiety, doubt and shame. He hadn’t even entered his senior year of his finance degree. Now he would have to potentially abandon his career path, to urgently fund his expectant’s girl-friend’s healthcare.
Hence, he frantically began to research alternative options. There were several private hospitals which offered surgical abortions. Conveniently, two of them were in the vicinity of MIT. Both hospitals quoted the surgery to cost $ 20,000. However, the cost of the anesthesiologist, doctor’s appointments and aftercare was estimated to be an additional seven thousand dollars. Billy urgently examined how he would accrue $27,000 as a twenty-one-year old university student. Undeniably, he would have to sell his Ford sedan, Toshiba laptop and Sony sound system. Furthermore, he examined procuring a bank loan from Wellis Fargo, as he had been a loyal client since 1995. Indubitably, $27,000 upfront was less costly than the $50,000-$60,000 annually for seventeen years required to raise a new unintended offspring.
While awaiting Cindy’s appointment with the obstetric specialist, he became a basket-case of a recluse. He agonizingly hoped that urine tests were more fallible than blood tests. He adamantly declined all social events, car repairs, liquor store trips and Playstation orders. Raising a child in the USA was unquestionably, an exorbitant cost. A cost that he would have to assume full accountability.
During this time, he began experiencing nightly terrors. These featured his childhood acquaintance Andres. Billy met Andres in grade eight at Willowbrook Highschool. Andres’ family moved from Tuscon, Arizona to Omaha, Nebraska when Andres was ten years old. One day while reviewing allegorical devices in Animal Farm during English class, Andres announced, ‘last night my father was accosted by the police at his house in Kentucky.’
Mrs. Miles sternly shot Andres a scrutinizing glare. Evidently, this proclamation was an aberrant tangent, which was not reflective of the underlying themes of Orwell. To everyone’s sheer horror, Andres persisted with his autobiography, ‘my father used to be a citizen of New Mexico, but then my mother had Adria when she was sixteen. So, we had to pack our bags and move to Mission Beach in San Diego.’
A burnt canary tinge encapsulated Mrs. Miles’ ordinarily ashen countenance. She tersely pursed her lips and rebuked, ‘Andres, I’m going to have to send you to Mr.Mathers’ office. He’s the high school principal. This is highly inappropriate. I suggest you discuss this matter further with Mr. Mathers over detention.’
Andres whimsically flailed his hands in the air and retorted, ‘Mr. Mathers is a cosmopolitan from Brazil. He consorts with assorted friends at the Ironhorse Pub. Yet, he claims to be married to Mrs. Mathers for twenty-five years. The only has reason why he has season tickets to the Kansas City Chiefs is because he fancies Latino cowboys with Mr.Stavos. I overheard them discussing this during recess in the corridor.’
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Self-Determinism in Physiology, Psychology and Philosophy to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.