Leisel de Vries’ voice surged through my ear buds: “My husband and I had been trying to get pregnant for months. I finally went to the doctor to find out what was wrong. She did an ultrasound and found polyps in the area outside my uterus. She told me many of her patients from Kortrijk have similar reproductive problems.” Her voice sounded broken and tired. I listened to my next question: “Could your doctor remove the polyps?” “Yes, but she couldn’t do small incisions. She had to cut me from here to here to remove all the polyps.” I cringed. Leisel had raised her shirt to show me the shiny, red line where the knife had traversed her abdomen. “How long ago was that?” “About a year.” “Have you been able to conceive?” “Not yet. But we’re hopeful.” I paused my recorder and stopped transcribing, letting the seriousness of her situation wash over me.
