At first, she didn’t know what to do. It was clear to us that she wanted to enjoy more momentos with her husband before having a bebé. They hadn’t had much time living together as a married couple, since she had been in Cuba for so long waiting for her papers, and now they didn’t even have a whole house for themselves. In the U.S., most Cubanos struggle to find a place of their own, especially when they have just arrived. Anyway, Carol had to learn to live with her parents-in-law, something she wasn’t used to, but was worth trying. There were so many things going on in her head: her familia and amigos in Cuba, no one but her husband to take care of her, no job, no money for herself. Carol had always disliked being dependiente, but this time she knew it was necesario.

I made up my mind before Carol did. I was determined to have my bebé. I thought I was aware of all the consecuencias, but the idea of having a bebé in my arms outweighed any fear. At the beginning, my mamá was terrified. Everyone in my familia was, especially my parents and sister. My mamá had endured so much during my tratamiento that she didn’t want me to suffer a relapse again. It is always shocking for a madre to see how her child is going through a bad time. Somehow, I understood her punto de vista, but in the end she had to aceptar my choice and embrace the little miembro de la familia that was growing inside of me. I knew Jim was also afraid of what might happen, though he hardly mentioned it. We did bond over one thing: We were both excited about the idea of raising a kid. We were finally ready to be padres.

Despite all the inseguridades, Carol decided to continuar her pregnancy. Her husband was also very supportive and eager to be a padre. I’m not sure if it is a trend these days, but I could bet that men are more preparados than women for parenthood. Let’s not spread the word or we could have some controversial issues to discuss.

Kate had been waiting for the right momento to be a madre, at least that was what everyone thought. But the truth was that she was having some problemas de fertilidad. She had been disappointed by los doctores so many times that she had given up trying. Yet, her cheerful personalidad couldn’t be dragged down by the fact that her beloved girlfriends were having bebés. She could take care of them at least. So, Kate was preparing to be our babysitter. We all thank you, Kate. You are going to be a great help.

Sometimes life can be contradictoria e impredecible. While Kate was desesperada to get pregnant, Liz was thinking about having an aborto. If we weren’t sure about being a madre, Liz was even more confundida. Her relación – or whatever she was involved in – wasn’t something stable. The guy had a bad reputación, maybe because of the many women he had dated in the pasado, something Liz was aware of, naturally. Anyway, she was smart enough to handle the situación and even change it, if that was her goal. But the guy was really hard to catch, and Liz needed somebody to push her forward, not back in love. So once you are expecting a child whose padre is not a reliable persona and has no intención of starting a familia with you, la posición becomes very problematic. Some of us were in disagreement, but despite our diferencias we were there to support Liz no matter what.

Jess was the only one free of maternity concerns. It was quite obvio that she was not going to get pregnant any time soon. Dealing with her emociones seemed to be harder than she thought. That’s what usually happens when you are engaged in a relaciónes a larga distancia. The feeling of being alone and betrayed by her boyfriend once more was too much to bear. Her first relación happened to melt away in just the blink of an eye for razones similares and, although Jess had always been strong, she was also frágil when it comes to love.

(…to be continued…)

Series – Evanescent

January: If Something Can Go Wrong…It Will – Jonay Quintero Hernández (Spain)

February: The Planet of Pleasure – Nane Sevunts (Armine Asryan) (Armenia)

March: Evening with Jackie Chan – Gennady Bondarenko (Ukraine)

April: Vuvuzelas, Walkie-Talkies and Madiba Magic – Sarah-Leah Pimentel (South Africa)

May: Remembering – Seyit Ali Dastan (Turkey)

June: 5-4-3-2-1 – Talia Stotts (America)

July: Getting Ready for Newborns – Marilin Guerrero Casas (Cuba)

August: Regrets – Kate Korneeva (Russia)

September: A Hollow Pursuit – Diana Haidar (Syria)

October: The Test – Alejandra Baccino (Uruguay)

November: A Life Rekindled – Lauren Voaden (United Kingdom)

December: Translation Perfect – Zhang Lu (China)

Special: Catching Water III – Javier Gomez (Argentina)

Background – Context

Transadaptation Volume 2: Conceived – Childhood Transadapted, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2021)

Transadaptation Volume 1: In the Middle – Prelude to a Contemporary Transadaptation, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2020)

Peripatetic Alterity: A Philosophical Treatise on the Spectrum of Being – Romantics and Pragmatists by Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2019)

La Syncrétion of Polarization and Extremes Transposée, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2019)

The Codex of Uncertainty Transposed, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2018)

L’anthologie of Global Instability Transpuesta, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2017)

From Wahnsinnig to the Loony Bin: German and Russian Stories Transposed to Modern-day America, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2013)

Emblems and stories on the international community

Perception by country – Transposing emblems, articles, short stories and reports from around the world

Credits

Cover photo: Havana, Cuba – The woman – Wirestock Creators (Shutterstock)
Source: The Codex of Uncertainty Transposed