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Patricia Joslin
Her Body, Not Yours
for my daughter
She pumps hormones into her body
to prepare for the implant. He collects
sperm to swim to the union.
It is work, not sex, yet intimacy
beyond measure. Eighteen viable
embryos, then nine, then none.
Try again. Pay again. No success.
There is another way, doctors say,
so they choose rather than lose
the chance to birth a half-sibling
to ride bikes, watch cartoons,
camp in the woods. Select, embed,
then wait. She nurtures this miracle
child in her womb. They name him
Thomas, and never doubt deep love
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