ABSTRACT
In edited interviews, ‘The lady of the house' and ‘MOT', Charlotte chats while breastfeeding, revealing how she donated her eggs for other couples to conceive, before having her own children. The link with Alison's story is significant as Charlotte is far removed from Alison's fantasy egg donor being someone trafficked into donating eggs. This chapter structurally mirrors Alison's narrative by interweaving images (here from Facebook) with edited interviews, and including a central section consisting of key re-imagined scenes. ‘A day at the races' reveals Charlotte's reaction when the first baby conceived via her egg is born; downing pints at the horse races miles away, she experiences an overwhelming sense of disconnection. Charlotte's experiences at the time of the birth of the babies conceived via her eggs (Macey and Jake) is contrasted with her first birth experience with her ‘own child', Tahlia. Motivations and emotions flit below the surface; her estranged mother, who she has not seen for 18 years, remains a haunting absent character. Some of the themes identified in Alison's narrative reoccur here, e.g. competitiveness and absences. Charlotte's story also explores new thematic areas of fate and superstition, which echo some of the other women's stories.
