The Outer Limits (1995) s07e04 Episode Script

The Surrogate

1 Nothing like the face of a baby, is there? Sure, if you like babies, I think you'll find that being pregnant will change your feelings about that, You want me to be mushy about this? That's weird, considering this isn't my baby, What I'm saying is that having a new life inside of you can be a very positive experience, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by the changes that come over you, Sure, Whatever, Okay, I'm going to be gentle, but you may feel a little cramping when I insert the embryo, What happens if it doesn't take? Do I still get paid? It's all laid out in the contract you signed, but to be honest, Claire, I don't think you'll have any problems, We have a pretty high success rate, I don't mean to sound mercenary, it's just, ,, I need the money, you know? What kind of art was it that you said you did? It's kind of abstract, I don't do baby faces, if you know what I mean, Uh-huh, That's it? You're done? Wait till we get to the birth, I'm even better, Now, then, I'm going to need you to lie quietly for a half-Hour or so, The nurse will be in to check on you in a moment, You did great, Claire, Did it go okay? Is it going to work out? Oh, so far, so good, The embryo was in excellent shape, so there's no reason to think it won't find a good and happy home in Claire's body, I really would love to meet Claire, Do you think it would be okay? To be honest, I don't think she's quite ready yet, She needs a little time, Just a sec, I know it's hard, but I want you to bear with me, I don't think I've met a better candidate than this young lady, She'll come around, They always do, How did we do? Just fine, The embryo has successfully implanted itself, It's viable? Oh Yeah, It's alive, There is nothing wrong with your television, Do not attempt To adjust the picture, We are now controlling the transmission, We control the horizontal and the vertical, We can deluge you with a thousand channels or expand One single image to crystal clarity, ,, and beyond, We can shape your vision to anything our imination can conceive, For the next hour, we will control all that you see and hear, You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the deepest inner mind to The outer limits, The beauty of motherhood and the Miracle of New life connects us to our humanity, ,, or does it? What do you mean you did it already? I told you when I left this morning that I was serious, Did you think I was kidding? I thought you were serious about needing money, not about doing this, You don't know anything about being pregnant, It's not rocket science, I'll figure it out as I go along, Yeah, well, just because you had the procedure doesn't mean you're actually pregnant, Believe me, I am, It doesn't matter, Look, do you want me to move in and share expenses with you? I'll do it, Ben, this isn't about us, It's about me, I've been doing a lot of soul-Searching What I need, what I don't need, and it's time for me to get serious about my life and about my art, and this will give me that chance, You moving in here won't, Considering all the back rent you owe? What did they give you, a couple thousand dollars? Try $15,000, and another $15,000 when the baby comes, All right, but, Claire, ,, don't shut me out of your life, I don't want to, Let me go through this with you, The kind of women they want for surrogates are single, not attached, no relationships, Yeah, okay, I got it, I know you when you make up your mind about something, and I'll back off, ,, but if you wake up in the night and you need someone I'll keep it in mind, I will, Thank you, It kind of feels like a hand or a foot, moving over here and then up here, I kind of felt something this morning over here, I mean, is that even possible? You're nine weeks, right, Emily? It would be a little early, But not entirely unheard of, Some babies are quite capable of movement, What you probably felt was them shifting, and not any particular body part, Morning, ladies, Morning, I have a new member for your group, This is Claire, Claire, this is the surrogacy support group, Rebecca, one of our nurses, runs the Group, Hi, That's Mary, ,, our Darling Lorraine, ,, uh, Gina's back there, and the beautiful lady with the beginnings of a bulge, that's Fern, and next to her is Emily, Hi, How far along are you, Claire? Just a week, I was explaining to Claire how the group works, Being able to lean on the experience of other women who are doing what you're doing is invaluable, To help you deal with some of the feelings that you might start to have, and to have a place where you can talk about them, Is that, like, mandatory? To talk about them? The only thing mandatory here is that you take care of yourself, And, as I'm due in the procedure room, I'll leave it to the ladies to tell you all about that, Bye, It's not that I don't like talking about my feelings, You don't have to explain yourself, Claire, Please, have a seat, Did dr, Deanston talk to you about the diet? The good news is you get to eat just about whatever you want, so long as you tell the clinic what you're eating, And the bad news Six of these a day, They have the tendency of getting stuck in your throat, They taste awful going down, and coming back on you, That's why it's better if you crush them up and stir them into a whole pint of chocolate-Chip ice cream, Is that allowed? Well, you don't tell them that you ate the whole pint, You've got to keep some things to yourself, Okay, You don't have to share unless you want to, Claire, It's just, ,,I have my reasons for doing this, you know? If I wanted to be a mom, I'd go be a mom, It's okay that you're doing it for the money, We're all doing it for the money, I mean, this is a job, The fact is is that feelings and emotions do come with the territory, The funny thing is is that Harder you fight them, the stronger they feel, How bad are they? I don't think you can really measure it in terms of "bad," Bearing a child is a very human thing, It's okay to be human about it, you know? Oh, Claire, can I talk to you for a second? Yeah, What did you think of the group? Some Pretty neat ladies, don't you think? Yeah, they're okay, I think you'll find they're much more than that, In time, of course, One of the things we do differently here is we keep a distance between you and the couple that you're surrogating for until you're emotionally prepared to meet them, but since you don't have any family, it might be comforting to talk to the ellachs, Isn't that what the group is for? Yes, but what I mean is the ellachs have more invested in you, Their phone number, Use it only when you're ready to, Okay, See you, Take care, Oh! Out of the way, out of the way, Out of the way, Please, Claire, I need you to describe the pain, I need to know exactly what you're feeling, It's sharp, It's so sharp, It feels like something's sticking in to me, Is it coming in waves, or is it more gradual? The fetus has detached from the placenta, Oh no, ,, is it going to die? Is it going to die? It's moving, trying to get out, Am I in labor? We'll have to induce, I need 10 units of oxytocin, stat! Help me, Help! Help me! Hold Still, Help me! I need you to hold still, Claire linkwood, 12:15 a, M, She's at her window, I'd say her nightmares have begun, The baby, I could feel it moving inside of me, and then you said, "It's trying to get out," and the really weird thing is you were right, except it wasn't going in the right direction to get out, It was going the other way, ,, and then I woke up, I'd say that qualifies as a nightmare, I spent the rest of the night checking myself to make sure I wasn't bleeding still, If it's any consolation, I've had some PRETTY awful dreams too, So has Fern, It's quite normal for pregnant women to experience vivid dreams of that nature, especially when you consider all the changes that your bodies are going through, This was more than just vivid, I could feel it, Have your bad dreams felt so real? Oh Yeah, ,, Yeah, Have you started taking the vitamins? Actually, no, I haven't, Take them, One before bedtime helps a lot, I'll do it, This has really affected you, hasn't it? I don't know if it was the dream or what, but when I woke up this morning, just the thought of losing this, ,, it really upset me, Welcome to the club, Hello? Hi, Is this Donna ellach? Yes, it is, Who's calling? It's Claire linkwood, Would it be all right if I came over? Of course it would, Claire, I'm so glad you called, I just thought that maybe I should introduce myself, you know? [ Rewinds tape .]
I'm so glad you called, I just thought that maybe I should introduce myself, you know? Let me give you the address, The thing you have to understand is I'm not doing this because there's some kind of mommy inside me trying to get out, If anything, I never wanted to be a mommy at all, I have a feeling being pregnant will change all of that, That's what they keep telling me, Was there something in your childhood that made you feel that way? Craig, ,, I'm asking a simple question, I apologize, Claire, Please, ignore him, It's okay, I don't mind, To put it mildly, I hated my parents, I ran away from home at 16, and I haven't looked back, Your folks haven't wanted to talk to you? As far as I'm concerned, I have no parents, no family, We're not your family, Claire, but we are here for you, no matter what you need, That's very nice of you, but, ,, I'm not just saying it, I mean, considering everything you're doing for us and how you have a little of our blood mingling with Yours, ,, look, I'm not really good at being mushy, but I have a feeling this thing is going to make me a little mushier than I'm used to, so how about if we just see where he or she takes us? Yeah, Yeah, well, that's good enough, A little lower, There, You feel it? Oh, my god, It moved, And again, ,, little warmth on a cold night? Sorry you can't join us, Claire, You should feel this, Is it okay? It's his baby, That's, ,,wow, I mean, really, Wow! He's a real little soccer player, Or she, I'm sorry if I've seemed remote at times, It's a strange kind of a relationship we have, Dr, Deanston said Emotions would Come into play, He was right, It's not that I think of this baby as mine, I don't, Well, ,, maybe in some small way I think of it as ours, ,, but I'm really starting to feel glad that I did this, We're really glad you did it, too, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm starving, Did you try the recipe for the vegetables? I'm talking fast-Food burgers with everything on them, one in each hand, See you next time, See you, You were kind of quiet today, Something bothering you? I'm fine, Fern, that wasn't very convincing, I had the dream again, okay? About the baby, Except this time, it was more like yours, I could feel it inside me, trying to get out, Are you taking the vitamins before bedtime? Of course, Well, then, Fern, ,, it's just a dream, Did you tell Dr, Deanston about it? He said it was just a dream, [ telephone Ringing .]
hello? I had the dream again, Fern? It was worse, ,, much worse, I'll be right there, Did you talk to dr, Deanston? Talk to dr, Deanston, ,, no, I can't, I'm supposed to go in there tomorrow for some procedure, and I don't want to, Just the thought of that man touching me, ,, dr, Deanston's not going to hurt you, He's a good man, I don't want him to touch me, Fern, where is this coming from? I have been so sick from the beginning, and, after a while, I thought it was those damn vitamins, I stopped taking them, Oh, Fern, ,, it doesn't matter, This sickness, ,, if I eat, if I don't eat, it's all the same, Something's not right, What if the babies we're carrying aren't normal? What if dr, Deanston has subjected us all to some kind of horrible experiment? Fern, this is crazy, They're watching us, you know, Watching, He wanted me to talk to him, and so I did for a while, and then I stopped, and now I don't know what to do, Fern, who are you talking about? What's wrong? It's like the dream, ,, sit down, I'm calling Dr, Deanston, No, ,, please, ,, shh, ,, I'm sorry, Fern, I'm so sorry, Rest now, Try and Relax, You'll be okay, Is she going to be all right? She's going to be fine, She's lucky to have a friend like you, I'm lucky she has a friend like you, If you want, I can stay and Look after her, She needs her rest, and so do you, It would be best if you went home, We'll take care of her, You did the right thing, Claire, You really did, I've been waiting for you, Claire, I'm not going to hurt you, Special Agent Glenn grant, I'm with the FBI, Does that give you the right to break into my apartment? What the hell do you want? Answers I'm hoping you can give me about dr, Deanston, You're the one Fern was talking about, You were harassing her, from the sound of it, She was terrified, She should be, but not of me, I want you to look at these files, Claire, They're the tip of the iceberg, I've got dozens more just like them Surrogate patients of Dr, Deanston's, going back five years, and all the babies those women were supposed to have had? They're gone, What? As if they never existed, I don't believe you, I've seen plenty of babies at the deanston clinic, Surrogate babies? I'm not talking about Dr, Deanston's regular practice, That's a cover, I'm talking about the surrogacy program, the women like you, their babies, Have you seen them? No, but, ,, take it, Wendy Newton, full term, Details of birth not available, birth certificate not available, Death certificate not on record, Denise chivas, premature labor at seven months, Details of birth not available, birth certificate not available, death certificate not on record, Wait, Are you telling me that all of Dr, Deanston's patients, that their babies die? No, The man's running a successful in-Vitro program, a very high percentage of live births, until you look at the surrogacy results and discover, Claire Listen to me, And discover there aren't any, I don't get it, Something terrible is happening to these babies, Claire, I've approached some of the birth mothers, but they won't talk to me, but Fern was ready to cooperate, Then suddenly, she changed her mind, So you moved on to me, Bad choice, agent grant, I have nothing to say to you, Claire, ,, when you stand in front of a mirror and you look at yourself, you're scared, I'm trying to make you understand just what you're scared of, Are you watching me? You're in danger, Claire, Get out, Let me help you, Claire, for the sake of the baby, Get out, Don't be frightened by the truth, [ telephone Ringing .]
Yeah? Claire? It's Emily, I'm sorry to wake you, Um, I don't know if you heard, But Fern lost her baby last night, It was a good thing dr, Deanston was already at my apartment, I probably would have bled to death, He was so wonderful, and you, holding my hand the whole time in the car, ,, I'm glad I could be there for you, but you rest now, and I'll be back, So glad you came to see her, Claire, It's the baxters I feel sorry for, They wanted this baby so badly, ,, I feel like I let them down, Sweetie, it's not your fault, Fern, some of the things you said last night, ,, oh, I can't even imagine the crazy things that came out of my mouth, Maybe they weren't so crazy, Tell me about grant, the fbi agent, The man's a menace, He's demented, Did he track you down, too? Yes, but, ,, Claire, I want to thank you for helping me, You saved my life last night, You really did, Fern, ,,did you see the Baby? See the, ,, I mean, there was a baby, wasn't there? Yes, and it died, Why would you ask such a thing? Was it born alive, or was it stillborn? I'm so sorry, Fern, but I have to know, Claire? A word with you, please? Fern's baby was stillborn, How many others have died? I've seen the files, Oh, you've been talking to agent grant of the FBI, or should I say formerly of the FBI? What do you mean? Oh, he didn't mention that? I'm not surprised, He was put on administrative leave six months ago, He had been harassing my patients, I had no idea this harassment had begun again, Why would he do that? Somehow he's got it in his head that all our surrogate babies are vanishing into thin air, But they're not? Of course not, I can only surmise that a couple of our surrogate mothers with Severe depression spoke with Agent grant, and he's spun it into some kind of bizarre conspiracy theory, I'll make sure he doesn't bother you again, I'm so glad you called, Ben, I was thinking of calling you, I should have come to see you sooner, or at least called, I'm not your responsibility, I could argue that with you, but I won't, So this grant guy, do you believe what he told you? He's very convincing, but so is Dr, Deanston, Yeah, what kind of doctor is he? What do you mean? Well, you go to your surrogacy support group once a week, but what kind of monitoring is he doing on you? Like, what kind of tests? He's not doing any tests, And you don't find that odd? I don't know, I, ,,I don't know what to believe, who to believe, I know this guy, Dr, Chan, He went to high school with my brother, He's an obstetrician, I could call him and set up an appointment and have him look at you tomorrow morning, I mean, at the very least, it'll put your mind at rest, Let's start with an ultrasound, The first thing that's a little unusual is there's an awful lot of fluid in there, How far along did you say you were? Seven months, Is something wrong? I don't know about wrong, ,, unusual, most definitely, A problem, Doctor? Hold on, I want to hear the baby's heartbeat, [ heart beating .]
what's wrong with the Baby's heart? It's hard to say, Some babies are born with an extra chamber in their heart, but that's not what it would sound like, Sometimes with twins, you get three beats because one of the beats is in concert, but I don't see two babies here, and what I am seeing, ,, the yolk sac should have been gone weeks ago, but there it is, if that's what it is, How serious is this? Look, I know I'm sounding pretty alarmist, but from what you've told me, they haven't run a whole lot of tests on you, and, frankly, based on what I'm seeing here, I think an amnio is essential, I'd like to do one, if you'll let me, Okay, Rose, could you join us? Is this going to hurt? You'll feel a pinch as the needle goes in, You're going to be okay, If the baby keeps still, this won't take more than a minute, Almost there, ,, almost there, ,, he's moving, I can feel it, Don't let her move, Oh, my god, Agent grant! Oh, my god, What's he doing here? What's going on, Ben? Claire, I don't know dr, Chan, Agent grant came to me, He said you needed to see another doctor, You son of a bitch, I'm sorry about the deception, but I had to get you to a real doctor, I'm getting out of here, How much more proof do you need? Deanston's done something terrible to you, to your baby, Get your hands off me, Where are you going? Let us take you to a hospital, please, Leave me alone, Claire, ,, [ Knocking .]
Claire, it's Ben, Claire, are you in there? Come on, Claire, I just want to make sure you're okay, Look, I'm sorry, Claire, I really am, I screwed up, Please, just say something so I know you're all right, You lied to me, I swear I didn't know it was going to go down like that, I was trying to help, By betraying me? Look, grant came to me and told me you were in trouble, He said they were doing something to you, Why didn't you just tell me? He said you weren't thinking straight, Claire, you've got to go back to dr, Chan, Agent grant said that if you don't, something could happen, You don't get it, do you? I may not know who to trust, but it's definitely not that guy, He lied to me, Deanston didn't, Don't be stupid, Whatever went wrong is not agent grant's fault, So now I'm stupid? No, Claire, you know that's not what I mean, You're in over your head, You need help, You never thought I could do this, did you? You've just been waiting for me to screw it up so you could save me, Don't do this, I hate to disappoint you, but I don't need your help, and I certainly don't need agent Grant's, You can go now, Go, Okay, ,, but, Claire, just, ,,take care of yourself, [ telephone Ringing .]
hi, this is Claire, I'm not here, Leave a message, Claire, it's Donna, Please, pick up, We're worried about you, honey, Are you there? Are you okay? Please, pick up, But this doctor you went to, he said something about the yolk sac? Oh, never mind the yolk sac, What about all this green stuff flying all over the place? Can you possibly be any more insensitive? She knows what happened, I knew there was something about that deanston I didn't like, I'm so tired, So tired, ,, we're going to take care of you, Claire, okay? I just want to sleep, I am so sorry about the baby, You have nothing to be sorry about, and besides, we're not giving up on this baby, not by a long shot, Now, you get some rest, Okay? Thank you so much for everything, We're going to see you through this, Claire, I promise, Claire? Something's come loose, Come loose? It's sharp! It's so sharp! What do we do? Help me, ,, Let's get her into the car, And go where? A hospital, any hospital, Get the car keys, dammit, Let's go! Hang on, Claire, We're almost there, What are we doing here? We're supposed to be at a hospital, This is where you belong, Hello, Claire, Help me, ,, no, ,, we'll take it from here, I need to know how you're feeling, Claire, Can you describe the pain to me? You're a monster, A monster! I'm sorry you feel that way, but I still need to know, It's sharp, like something's sticking into me, That's a bad sign, Let's go, What are you doing? I won't let you kill my baby, Claire, ,,we don't kill babies here, That's agent grant's paranoia, Get away! Don't do this, Claire, Ow, Ow! Claire, this isn't going to help, Claire, if you fight us, the baby will die for sure, Is that what you really want? No, Time is of the essence, We need every second, Give me the scalpel, Come on, Please, Agent Grant? This is Emily bushmill, You asked me to let you know if I saw anything strange, ,, um, Claire was just brought into the clinic, She's having her baby now, and something is very wrong, What's that? This will help, Help me how? I can feel it moving inside of me, It's trying to get out, There, there, ,, it's got a voice, like it's talking, ,, it's hungry, Yes, it is, I'm its food, Is that what's happening to me? Something like that, What's happening to me? What's happening to me? You can't come back here, Excuse me! I'm looking for Claire linkwood, Where is she? She needed medical treatment, If you care to wait back here in the reception area I can't say I'm happy to see you again, You tell me where Claire is or I'll find her myself, Down the hall, but you're a little late, Agent grant, What happened, Claire? What happened to your baby? Nothing happened to my baby, ,, just like nothing happened to Fern's baby, In fact, they weren't babies at all, What's that supposed to mean? We're not like you, agent grant, We don't bear live young, We gestate inside other creatures, and then, when the time comes, we start to feed, We eat everything but the shell, It comes in so handy, Listen to me, ,, both of you, Whatever they've done to you, I can help, Oh, are you still worried about what they did to us? You should be worried about what we're going to do to you, I think you'll find this to be an incredibly supportive environment, Debbie, That's why we have the surrogacy support group, Good evening, ladies, I want you all to meet Debbie, Debbie will be joining your group from tonight on, This is Rebecca, She's one of our nurses, She runs the group, The birth of a new life can be awesome and miraculous, unless it is at the expense of the human race Itself, ,, hi there,
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