Chapter 22 - THE CLINIC CASE The civil mediation lasted two days.
There were lawyers everywhere.
Documents.
Experts.
Medical records.
Embryology reports.
Old emails.
Photographs.
Every page seemed to describe a life that should never have happened this way.
Asteron argued that Mara's later actions had caused some of Sophie's trauma.
That was partly true.
But the clinic had caused the original violation.
The final settlement remained $9.8 million.
Sophie's share was protected.
Caroline's estate received compensation.
Emily and I received our own portion.
No one celebrated.
There was nothing to celebrate.
We paid our attorneys.
Repaired the house.
Expanded therapy.
Set money aside.
Then we went home.
Because after years of courtrooms, hospitals, and legal offices, home had become more important than money.
Asteron publicly acknowledged “material failures in consent verification and embryo inventory controls.”
They did not admit that anyone had intentionally stolen a child.
The legal distinction mattered.
But morally, one fact remained.
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A child had been created from our embryo without our permission.
And no settlement could make that acceptable.
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