Our Surrogate Gave Birth to Our Baby – The First Time My Husband Bathed Her, He Shouted, 'We Can't Keep This Child'

We weren't in the room when it happened.

It felt like we spent forever waiting in the hospital hallway.

It was well into the evening by the time a nurse called us into the room.

Kendra was sleeping.

Sophia was, too. She'd been swaddled and placed in a bassinet.

She looked like a little cherub, and it took every last ounce of self-control not to lift her into my arms and snuggle her.

"She's doing well," the nurse told us in a low voice.

We spent forever waiting in the hospital hallway.

A pediatrician smiled and told us she was healthy before leaving the room in a hurry.

A few days later, we were allowed to bring Sophia home. Everything seemed normal right up until that moment in the bathroom.

I stared at Sophia's back while Daniel held her in the tub.

At first, my brain refused to make sense of what I was seeing.

It was a line, small, straight, and neat, high on Sophia's back. The skin around it was faintly pink, healing.

Not a scratch or a birthmark.

"That's a surgical closure," Daniel said. "Somebody performed a procedure on our daughter, and we were never told."

Not a scratch or a birthmark.

"No." I turned to him. "No… What kind of surgery?"

"I don't know." Daniel swallowed. "But it must've been urgent."

"Oh, God. What's wrong with our daughter?"

"Call the hospital," Daniel said. "And Kendra. Someone must have answers."

Kendra didn't answer.

By the fourth call, Daniel's whole face had changed. Not just fear now. Anger. The kind I'd seen only a handful of times in our marriage.

He grabbed a towel and lifted Sophia from the tub. "We're going back."

"What kind of surgery?"

We rushed to the hospital.

We were taken to pediatrics after enough strained explanations at the desk.

A doctor I didn't recognize came in.

He examined Sophia carefully while I stood close enough to see every touch. He checked her temperature, her breathing, and the incision.

He nodded to himself once, which somehow made me want to scream.

Finally, he stepped back. "She's stable. The procedure was successful."

We rushed to the hospital.

I stared at him. "What procedure?"

He folded his hands. "During delivery, a correctable issue was identified. It required prompt intervention to prevent her from getting an infection deeper in the tissue. A minor surgical correction was performed."

"Infection?" I stared at Daniel.

Daniel took one step forward. "And no one thought to tell us? Or ask our permission?"

The doctor paused. "Consent was obtained."

Everything inside me went still. "From who?"

"Me."

Daniel and I both turned.