Tessa's contraceptive appointment and possible infertility finding

Tessa’s contraceptive appointment begins as an effort to prevent an unplanned pregnancy, but turns into a source of uncertainty about whether she might ever be able to have children. The visit offers immediate reassurance that she is not pregnant and a plan for contraception, then unsettles her with a possible infertility concern that Dr. West cannot confirm. Its significance lies in that reversal: Tessa seeks control over the timing of motherhood and leaves without knowing whether motherhood will be possible at all.

Why Tessa Seeks Contraception

The appointment follows repeated unprotected sex between Tessa and Hardin. In an earlier encounter, Hardin realizes that without his having remembered the risk, Tessa could have become pregnant. Later, after feeling her without a condom, he tells her to get on birth control. Tessa says she has meant to make a doctor’s appointment but has found it difficult to secure one through student insurance. Her access to contraception is therefore not simply a matter of deciding what she wants: the practical obstacle of obtaining an appointment has delayed the step.

By the time Tessa visits the clinic, the possibility of pregnancy carries consequences beyond the immediate fear of becoming a parent. She worries that a baby would disrupt what she wants to do with her life, and believes an unplanned pregnancy could push Hardin over the edge. She is also aware that she and Hardin are in an unsettled place as a couple. The appointment is motivated by a wish to avoid pregnancy now, not by certainty about what either of them wants in the distant future.

The Appointment and Its Reassurance

Tessa arrives anxious despite having her period. At the clinic, she provides a urine sample for a pregnancy test, then meets Dr. West, who asks about her sexual history. She has to tell him that she and Hardin have had unprotected sex on more than one occasion, an embarrassing disclosure she gets through by forcing herself to maintain eye contact. When the test result arrives, Dr. West tells her she is not pregnant and that they can begin.

He reviews contraceptive options, including some Tessa has never heard of, and they settle on the shot. Before giving it, he asks permission to perform a pelvic examination. The promised routine of the visit shifts when he examines her with an ultrasound probe. Tessa watches his response for signs that something is wrong and begins to fear the pregnancy test may have been mistaken. Instead, Dr. West says that he is concerned about the size of her cervix. He stresses that there is nothing to worry about at the moment, but wants to see her again for further testing.

A Possibility, Not a Diagnosis

When Tessa presses him to explain, Dr. West identifies infertility as the worst-case scenario, not as a conclusion he has reached. He says the examination alone cannot establish what is happening. He sees no cysts, which he describes as a good sign, but cannot estimate the chances of infertility. His plan is to give Tessa the contraceptive shot, draw blood for tests, and schedule a follow-up.

The distinction between a possible outcome and a diagnosis is clear in what Dr. West tells her, yet difficult for Tessa to hold on to emotionally. She understands that further testing is needed, but the word infertility immediately makes the uncertainty feel like a verdict. Her heart pounds in the quiet room, and the doctor’s reassurance that the concern is common and may be resolved does not stop her anxiety. The appointment thus leaves two different kinds of uncertainty in its wake: the immediate fear of an unwanted pregnancy is answered by a negative test, while the question of future fertility remains open.

The Fear Extends Beyond the Clinic

Tessa’s response is shaped by how she imagines a future with Hardin. Before the examination, she has tried not to dwell on the possibility that a life with him might mean never becoming a mother. The potential infertility finding gives that fear a medical focus, although it does not establish that she is infertile. Her concern is not only about a test result; it is about losing a future she has not yet had the chance to choose.

That conflict becomes vivid when Tessa later meets Natalie, who is days past her due date and expecting her first child. Natalie lets Tessa feel the baby kick beneath her hand. Tessa shares in Natalie’s happiness, but the moment also sharpens her private question about whether she will ever experience pregnancy herself. She notices Natalie’s wedding band and imagines that she may never wear one, while reminding herself that nothing about her own diagnosis is certain. The encounter does not answer the question raised at the clinic; it shows how that unresolved question follows Tessa into an ordinary moment of connection and joy.

Relationship Pressure and Narrative Significance

Contraception in Tessa and Hardin’s relationship is entangled with his concern about pregnancy and her attempt to make decisions about her own body and plans. Hardin’s instruction to seek birth control follows their careless use of contraception, while Tessa’s delayed appointment reflects the difficulty of navigating student insurance. At the clinic, she makes the choice to proceed with the shot, but the possible infertility finding changes what that choice means to her: avoiding pregnancy now no longer feels separate from fear about whether she might be able to have children later.

The visit also becomes part of the couple’s intimate, sometimes jealous conversation. Tessa later tells Hardin that her gynecologist is male, and his response reveals that he had not considered that possibility and is irritated by it. That exchange does not alter the medical facts, but it shows how an appointment about Tessa’s health becomes subject to Hardin’s attention and jealousy as well. The event ultimately refuses a neat resolution: Tessa receives contraception and learns she is not pregnant, yet leaves waiting for further tests, with motherhood newly framed as both a future she longs to imagine and a possibility she fears may be denied.