Evelyn Turner frowned and said, “According to the test results, it should have been just about two to three months ago that your uterus and bilateral adnexa started to become active. Fortunately, the development was late, so the impact on your body isn’t significant. But whether you want this child or not, a hysterectomy with bilateral adnexectomy must be performed. These organs were never supposed to grow in your body. If non-steroidal hormones get disrupted, it’ll be a real problem.”

He spread his hands and said, “I don’t need to tell you this—you’re a doctor, you know best.”

Eric Bennett finished reading the examination reports one by one, interlaced his fingers, and leaned against Evelyn Turner’s desk.

“Are you planning to keep it?” Evelyn Turner asked.

Eric Bennett stared at the mahogany desk for a while, as if zoning out.

“I don’t want it.”

Evelyn Turner nodded in understanding. Although Eric Bennett always seemed mentally strong, after all, he was a man. Just accepting the fact of being pregnant must have already drained a lot of his mental energy. Not wanting the child was the normal reaction.

“Can you figure out how many days along the pregnancy is?” he asked.

Although an ultrasound can give a rough estimate based on size, it’s not precise.

“Sixty-five days,” Eric Bennett didn’t even need to think much—just checked the calendar, “It’s past forty-nine days, so a medical abortion isn’t possible.” He had already done the math himself.

Evelyn Turner was a bit surprised. “So, your sex life with your boyfriend isn’t very active, huh?”

With the shock of the pregnancy already in front of him, he quickly accepted the fact that Eric Bennett’s partner was a man. Being able to pinpoint the timing so quickly could only mean it happened just once during that period.

Eric Bennett didn’t respond to that. “The soft catheter’s diameter is less than 0.5 centimeters, and the angle with the intestine is too small. Vacuum aspiration isn’t possible either.”

He had already run through all the surgical options in his mind and knew better than anyone, “The only options are laparoscopy or open surgery.”

Evelyn Turner nodded. “Right now, laparoscopy is still possible, but in a few months, only open surgery will work.” He didn’t perform surgeries himself, but he knew that open surgery had more complications and higher risks. With all the minimally invasive techniques available nowadays, open surgery is considered a major operation and has a significant impact on the body.

“But I do have some good news,” Evelyn Turner said. “These past couple of days, I’ve been really unsettled because of your situation, so I asked around among my friends, and I actually found something.”

Evelyn Turner took out a tablet, tapped on something, and handed it to Eric Bennett.

“I have a friend who’s an editor for an international journal. Last month, there was a submitted article with a case very similar to yours. The author is from Country M. The article hasn’t been published yet, so he can’t send it to me, but I have the author’s contact information. If you need it, you can email him and see if he can help. But in that case, the patient carried the baby to term and had an open cesarean section. Both father and son were safe.”

Eric Bennett’s eyelashes trembled.

Just as Evelyn Turner said, this really was good news.

Having a reference case—even if it’s just a drop in the bucket compared to having no records at all—makes a world of difference to a doctor.

Although surgery sounds like you just fix whatever’s broken, Eric Bennett knew in his heart that every type of surgery he performed was only after observing his seniors countless times, becoming intimately familiar with every step, and memorizing human anatomy inside and out, before daring to operate under a teacher’s supervision, practicing until he was proficient.

He dared to take on challenges, but not to take reckless risks.

Surgery has developed over two hundred years, built on countless wrongful deaths and soaked in patients’ blood, to reach its current level of maturity.

Pioneering always comes with sacrifice, so for the vast majority of doctors today, medicine is more about inheritance and learning than about blazing new trails.

With enough supporting data, new therapies can be developed step by step, but no one dares to recklessly attempt a completely unprecedented surgery.

But male pregnancy is a surgery with no precedent. Aside from that one case in Country M, there’s nothing in the literature—not even as rare as the rarest diseases.

During the operation, not only does the baby have to be removed, but the uterus and both adnexa must also be excised at the same time. The problem is, this is a man’s body—you can hardly imagine how complex the blood vessels and tissues inside the abdominal cavity will be.

No experience means enormous risk.

“Eric Bennett, if you’ve decided to terminate, I think the safest bet is to contact the lead surgeon from that article, Dr. Kenn. After all, he’s done a full-term case and has some experience. But getting a visa to Country M isn’t easy right now. You can afford to wait, but the baby can’t.”

The international situation isn’t very clear, and going there now would conservatively take at least three months. By then, the fetus would be five months along.

Five months… it would already have memories, and could even recognize the voice of its gestational parent.

Evelyn Turner paused for a moment. “Actually, I think, if you and your partner have a good relationship, it’s not impossible to carry the pregnancy for a while and see how things go. It’s fate, after all. So many same-sex couples want a child of their own and can’t have one,” he said. “This way, you’d have at least eight more months to contact doctors and prepare for surgery, and the pressure would be less.”

Eric Bennett folded his hands in front of his knees. “I still prefer to do it now.”