I Carried a Baby for My Twin Brother. When He Saw His Newborn Daughter, He Said He Could Not Take Her Home

I had missed ordinary life.

Not because Hope’s challenges were unwelcome, but because crisis had taken up every available space.

I wanted Mason’s soccer games to matter.

I wanted groceries and television shows and silly conversations about dinosaurs to matter.

Those things were not trivial.

They were the fabric of a life I hoped Hope would get to join.

At my postpartum checkup, I told the clinician how tired and emotionally strained I’d been.

We talked about my recovery, sleep, and supports.