an unforeseen future?”
“David Demerchant entered his name on our questionnaire along with his background statistics. The technician ran a computer search. When he found nothing under David Demerchant’s name, he set up a new computer file, number-coded his sperm for confidentiality and placed David Demerchant’s sperm in the donor pool storage receptacle.”
“The donor pool? It was doled out?”
“It wasn’t my mistake!”
“All this happened because there weren’t separate lines on the computer form for payee’s name and donor’s name, is that right?”
“Yes.”
“And who made this determination that there should only be one line and not two?”
By now, Binick’s long scaly face was shiny with his nervous perspiration. He drew out a tissue from his pocket and started blotting. “It would have cost more money to have added another line.”
“So it was your decision to pinch pennies instead of providing adequate space on your computer form?”
“I object to that unfair characterization, Your Honor,” Sato said.
“Sustained,” the judge ruled. “No editorials, counselor.”
“I’ll rephrase,” Marc responded. “Mr. Binick, was it your decision to restrict space on your computer form, an action that caused David Demerchant’s sperm to be doled out to your clients instead of preserved?”
“We didn’t just dole it out! We kept track of who got whose sperm and how well the sperm did. When none of the first six women we inseminated with David Demerchant’s sperm conceived, we rechecked it and found that its motility was impaired so it was withdrawn from donor status.”
“Let’s take this one step at a time, Mr. Binick. Did you or did you not make the decision about the space on the computer form?”
“I—”
“Yes or no, Mr. Binick.”
Binick sank even more in his chair, looking like he wished he could slither beneath it. “Yes.”
“Now, would you please explain to this jury in common, everyday language what you mean by the motility of David’s sperm being impaired?”
“In order for sperm to fertilize an egg they have to be vigorous swimmers. When one of our lab technicians checked David Demerchant’s sperm, she found they were lazy and did not meet the high standards we uphold at Bio-Sperm.”
“Are you trying to tell this court that David Demerchant’s sperm could not have produced a child?”
“His sperm were mobile enough for conception, given time. It’s just that our clients pay for each insemination attempt, and they become impatient when nothing is immediately forthcoming. So we try to provide them with only very vigorous sperm to speed up their becoming pregnant. Which is why when we discovered the motility problem, we removed David Demerchant’s storage tubes from the donor storage receptacle.”
“You mean you destroyed his sperm,” Marc repeated for emphasis.
“Yes.”
“You destroyed David Demerchant’s sperm, sperm you were supposed to be holding for him to insure his progeny?”
“I—”
“Yes or no, Mr. Binick?”
Binick’s eyes flitted to the jury, then back to Marc. His tongue darted out nervously. “Yes.”
“You are responsible for destroying sperm that you knew was supremely important to preserve, because it was the only hope for the Demerchant line, yes or no?”
“Yes.”
“And by destroying that sperm, you have destroyed Louie Demerchant’s dream of having a great-grandchild through the surrogate mother of his choice, haven’t you, yes or no?”
“Yes.”
“Mr. Binick, because of your mistake, you have literally doomed the distinguished Demerchant family line to extinction, haven’t you, yes or no?”
“Well...no.”
“No?” Marc repeated, barely able to believe his ears. “Mr. Binick, did you or did you not just admit that Bio-Sperm destroyed David Demerchant’s sperm?”
“Well, yes, but—”
“But, nothing. It was the only chance that the Demerchant line had of continuing. Now there’ll never be a child to carry on the Demerchant name. Isn’t that true?”
“Well, none to carry on the name, perhaps. But—”
“Perhaps? Mr. Binick, when I took your deposition two months ago, you said none of those six women conceived from David’s sperm. Are you trying to say now that one of them did?”
“Oh, no. None of those women conceived. That’s why the lab technician tested the sperm, destroyed it and inactivated David’s computer file, as I said. That’s also the reason why it wasn’t until last week, when we were updating and cross-checking our files, that we found her, you see.”
“Found her. Found who?”
“I have a computer printout of her record right here,” Binick said, his sweaty hands diving into his pocket, dragging out a piece of folded paper that he subsequently shoved at Marc. “See?”
Marc took the paper, unfolded it and quickly perused its contents. “All I see is a bunch of computer codes, Mr. Binick. What is this supposed to mean?”
“It’s all the details about the seventh client. She didn’t get on David’s computer file because at the same time the recipient was receiving David’s sperm, another lab technician was testing David’s sperm, ordering it destroyed, and inactivating his file. That’s also why the positive take wasn’t subsequently recorded.”
“Positive take? Mr. Binick, are you saying this seventh woman received David Demerchant’s sperm and conceived?”
Binick rubbed his tiny scale of a nose as his thin, pushed-out face spread into its first smile. “She not only conceived, Mr. Truesdale, she gave birth to David Demerchant’s baby nine months later.”
Marc stared at Binick, mute in his shock, unable to ask another question for several seconds. It was just as well. He wouldn’t have been heard anyway. The courtroom had exploded with the impact of Binick’s dropped bomb.
A few members of the press, who had commandeered most of the spectator seats, were jumping up and heading for the door, eager to be the first to get out the news. The judge rapped and called for order, but to no immediate avail. Only after she threatened to clear the courtroom did the spectators begin to quiet down.
And all the time Marc’s thoughts were in a whirl as he contemplated the far-reaching ramifications of what this witness had just said.
A
