The ovary in the arm, and other tales from the crypt

Helen Moffett

A woman undergoing cancer treatment has had
her fertility saved after doctors transplanted
her ovary into her arm.
– Sunday Times, 14 November 2004

I am so sick of this; the way folk offer me
Dr Frankenstein’s laboratory,
Holding out science like some charm:
“They can do wonders these days!”
And “Have you thought of fertility treatment?”
Gosh, no. It never occurred to me.
I only know everything a layperson
Could ever digest – thanks to a cold collation
Of journals, the Internet, a dozen consultations
With specialists. I am only too adept:
Along with the miracles, I have the
Pulverising figures on failure rates
And crippling costs at my fingertips.
All this to jolt a speck of plasm into life –
While the compound interest of AIDS
Is multiplying orphans as we speak;
All I wanted was natural, normal
The everyday stuff; you know,
Conceiving in passion,
A common-place burgeoning
An ordinary breeding and birthing.
So little to ask for;
Beyond impossible to get.

LitNet: 08 August 2006

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