The Next Evolution of Wife
The Next Evolution of Wife
When walking through a door could change your whole life.
Maggie stood and stared at the solid black oak door; at some point, everyone contemplated whether to go through the door. Maggie almost admired those who decided it wasn't for them; at least they had made the decision and could get on with their life. She always knew she would go through the door. Now, the time was right.
Taking a deep breath, she pushed the heavy door and walked into the foyer. The mechanical receptionist pointed her to floor three, interviews. The waiting room on the third floor was plain white; nothing pointed towards what the building held, nothing to suggest how important this building was to everyone. Maggie smoothed her skirt for the fifth time and grabbed the folder of evidence under her arm. She wanted to look through the folder, but it would be pointless; she knew she had all the evidence they had requested.
The door opened, and a long-haired woman stood in front of Maggie. She invited her into the room with a smile and motioned for her to sit on the sofa opposite. Maggie admired her interviewer's dark, perfectly styled hair, brown eyes, and pale lips. She stood a little taller than Maggie and had a dark blue suit, with a white shirt, topped off with a simple pair of flats. She introduced herself as Dr Abbott.
"Shall we start," she said with a smile. "Can I see your social media usage first?"
Maggie handed her the papers that showed her social media usage over the last year. All the advice said this was the most dangerous part of the interview. Too much social media use and you were considered unsuitable to give your time to another. Too few hours, and you were considered out of date and unable to help a child research homework.
Dr Abbott scanned the documents. Maggie watched her face, but she gave nothing away.
"Now, can you tell me what having a child would do for your life?" Dr Abbott said.
There was a time when any woman could have a child. Families fell into two categories: those that wanted children and those that treated them as accessories and status symbols. Since The Sanctuary had taken over, whether women had babies or not depended on babies being wanted. No more were women allowed to have babies as a status symbol. Every child had to be desired and cherished from the moment you walked through that oak door.
Maggie answered the question as well as she could, hoping she portrayed how vital a baby was to her and how she felt it was every woman's duty to carry on the next generation.
Dr Abbott gave nothing away, just took a few notes.
"Okay, can I see your finance documents now?"
Maggie again handed over more paperwork. With a glance, she put these on the small table beside her.
"So you have the financial means to pay for the procedure," she asked Maggie.
"Yes," Maggie replied.
"You will not want to go for the free surrogacy model, then?"
Maggie had thought about this before she set the interview. Being a surrogate would mean that the procedure would be free and that the inferior twin would be taken away. But, even though it would have had no standing in society, Maggie still worried whether she could give a baby to The Sanctuary, even an inferior one.
"No, thank you," Maggie replied. "Just the simple single female option, please; I am happy to pay."
Dr Abbott nodded and noted this down on the form.
Maggie had read in history books that it hadn't always been this way with childbirth. There had been a time, many hundreds of years ago, when women became pregnant naturally. Men and women shared a house and created a new life. This was before women took control of the world. Women in these prehistoric times had to dress a certain way; short skirts were considered too provocative. They lived in fear of awakening the lust of men by saying or wearing the wrong thing. The problem was always the result of the women's inappropriate behaviour; men could not be expected to control themselves with women acting this way.
Once the evolution of womankind happened, women could move around without fear. They eliminated men except for a few specimens they kept in The Sanctuary for their seed. Doctors used drugs to keep them docile and their lust under control. These specimens were replaced by those that chose the surrogacy option. Two embryos were implanted, one of each gender, the inferior, was moved to The Sanctuary, and the mother would take the female home. Those who chose to pay were guaranteed a future heir to the planet. Only female embryos were ever implanted.
Dr Abbott brought her back to the room. She asked several more questions about her aims and objectives in life before ticking several boxes.
"Well, thank you for answering all those questions. I have one final question for you. The Sanctuary is trying a new procedure where we take an egg from a female and implant the genetic information into a synthetic sperm we implant. Would you consider having a pure female baby? It is, to be honest, the next evolution of wife."