The Paternity Test
by Michael Lowenthal
University of Wisconsin Press. 288 pages, $26.95
WHEN Patrick Faunce met Stuart Nadler at a charity event, it was love at first sight, but it was a bumpy ride from the start. Stu, an airline pilot, once had a boyfriend in every port (airport, that is). Pat learned not to question this state of affairs—it was a gay “rule” not to ask—staying home, working and worrying, never knowing if he was good enough, always over-thinking his standing with Stu. He had been in love with both boys and girls before, but he was never afraid of losing anyone more than he was of losing Stu.
So, when the Faunce family vacation house on Cape Cod falls into Patrick’s hands, Pat convinces Stu to move there. It would be the perfect place to start over—or so he thinks. He also decides that what this relationship really needs is a baby. Pat starts to imagine a family like the one he never had, with two loving parents always there for junior. He’s aware of surrogacy as an option and starts to haunt on-line forums and search sites, and before long he’s found a candidate named Debora, a Brazilian Jew with a tentative grasp of English that Pat finds charming. Debora also comes with a husband named Danny and an adorable four-year-old daughter. The Neumans feel that their family is complete but want to help another couple in need. Agreements are made and papers signed. Stu agrees to donate the sperm; Patrick is ecstatic. During the long wait for a pregnancy, however, Patrick and Stu begin to unravel. Debora and Danny’s relationship also begins to fray, and Debora starts to lean on Pat for support. At last, two little pink lines showed up on the pregnancy test—and that’s when the real trouble begins. Told from Patrick’s perspective, Paternity Test is rich with angst and eagerness, laced with past-inflicted pain but also sprinkled with hope. Despite the ill-considered actions and sheer foolishness of all the characters at various times, it’s hard not to become invested in their well-being and to experience apprehension when things aren’t working out. However aware we are of the shakiness of Pat and Stu’s relationship from the start, it’s disturbing to watch it disintegrate right before our eyes. Throughout most of the novel, in fact, there’s a sense of unsettling and unease, expectations met and dashed, half-truths left unexplained. Author Michael Lowenthal has a way of bringing readers into his characters’ lives, making us wish that we could shake some sense into these four sometimes senseless people. He convincingly conveys the emotions of a group of people who are trying to start a family and the frustration that comes when it doesn’t happen on schedule. Never in a hurry, Paternity Test starts out at a slow and gentle trot but works up to brisk pace and, in time, to a can’t-look-away ending that will leave readers feeling both shaken and pensive.
