ju st o ut ▼ d c c i m b t r 2. 1004 V 10
(Left to
right)
Gabby
with
soulwatcher
Kit Minton,
Sheila with
Risa, and
Mimi
carrying
Sam
member, and a friend.”
“These people have each made a life commit
ment to that particular child?” I ask.
Mimi and Sheila: “Right.”
“What have they made a commitment
to?” I wonder.
Sheila: “I wanted these people to be
able to offer something really important
to each child—”
Mimi: “That we couldn’t necessarily
offer—”
Sheila: ‘Time, or energy, or skill, or—”
Mimi: “Influence, faith—”
Sheila: “If you knew this group of people you
would see that the energy is amazing. The love,
the diversity—the group includes an artist, a doc
tor, an ex-Catholic priest, HIV-positive people,
devout Christians...I hope the kids will learn
about the religious world. There are other people
Fred Allemann with Sam at
who can teach that better than I can because I have
the No on 13 rally in October
some issues with traditional Christianity. The
intent of the soulwatchers is to provide a well-
rounded view of the world, whether it’s right or
wrong.”
Mimi says, “Let’s ask
Risa’s soulwatcher.”
Julie joins in: “Basically I
am to be there for her when
she needs me. I’m sure she’ll
have questions when she gets
older. Risa is supposed to be
my baby, but I like to spend
time with each one of them.
When Mimi found out she
was pregnant, everyone was
just so ecstatic. I think if there
was only one baby it would
be really hard. Everyone’s
glad th e re ’s triplets b e
cause— ”
“Because you don’t have
to sleep here!” Sheila inter
jects. Both mothers agree that
even under the best of cir
cumstances, having triplets
means having little time to
spend alone or with a partner.
“In that way we’re no differ
ent from any other couple
having children,” Mimi ob
serves. “On the other hand,
' hen we do get time alone
•gether it’s really, really spe-
lal.”
“I ironed and she told me
Jan bathes Gabby while Buddy prepares Sam fo r the hand-off to Mimi
what not to iron,” Sheila explains.
Sheila works 40 hours a week as a social service case manager
for Multnomah County. “My co-workers have been very support
ive. They gave Mimi and me a shower—a cake and some money.
People from work have come and taken the babies to help me out
because they knew that I needed to get the house siding done, or
we were stressed and needed a break. In fact, yesterday, when I
went for a walk 1 went to work. I knew they would take care ot
those babies. I just sat there and drank coffee.”
Mimi does development work for Cascade Aids Project 30
hours per week. She divides her work time equally between home
and office. “I don’t think we could have done the pregnancy
without CAP," Mimi reflects. "1 ended up on six weeks ot strict
bed rest at the end because I was having early labor contractions.
I couldn’t get out of bed except to go to the bathroom. People from
CAP organized an emotional-stability support team. Somebody
came every day to cook me lunch and take care of me, clean up, do
the laundry. At the same time we were trying to finish the addition
upstairs. Sheila was busy putting up drywall and nailing nails,
while people were here taking care of me. 1 was big as a house,
pretty miserable, and having tons of contractions. There was a
painting party. People from work came over to help paint the new
room and the stairs. They had a yard-cleaning party, too. That was
the day I had 17 contractions in an hour, because I kept wanting to
sit outside and talk to everybody. These were people who had
themselves been working all week and had families and whatnot
as well.”
Sheila adds, ‘They gave me my sanity.
We backtrack to talk about the conception. It was accom
plished through alternative insemination. Mimi says it is a class
B felony in Oregon for a woman to inseminate herself. The
mothers-to-be chose a fertility doctor in Oregon and a
sperm bank in California. "This time we went high-
tech,” Mimi says. “Selecting the sperm is like
shopping through a Spiegel’s catalogue bou
tique. The sperm bank sends you a list. It
tells you the donor’s height, weight,
hair color, eye color, ethnic back
ground, education...
“There I am pick
ing up the telephone and
calling southern California
with my VISA card ordering
sperm. They shipped it up to my
doctor. You never know what’s on
those UPS trucks!”
Both Mimi and the donor have twins
in their families. Mimi thought it would be
terrific to have twins. “Maybe,” Sheila had
said, “but don’t ever say the o th e r‘T ’ word.”
Mimi was taking what was described as “a
very low dose” of fertility drugs to ensure concep
tion. She recalls the day of discovery: “We went
in for an ultrasound. I looked at Sheila and she was
staring at the screen, and 1 looked at the screen and
I said, ‘1 think 1 see three.’ I looked at Sheila and
I said, ‘Honey, do you need to sit down?’ and she
said, “No, no, I think I’m OK.’ At that point the
doctor walked in and I said, ‘Doctor, there’s
three,’ and he said, “I think I’ve got to sit down,’
and he did.
“I was scared to death. I was afraid Sheila was
going to leave me. I had had to convince her that
it was OK for me to have a baby. 1 talked her into
it. Now there were three. It was really scary
emotionally, financially.... It got more exciting
and more acceptable throughout the pregnancy.”
The children were bom by caesarean section.
“There are threats to the health of the triplets and
the mother,” Mimi explains. “My doctors would
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