One night Maria mentioned that she had signed up to mate again. I knew many women did it, but I hadn't thought about it for myself yet. She said the wait list was so long they couldn't give her a time line, but of course they gave priority to first timers, and it would likely be over five years before she would get matched with a new partner. She said that even if I didn't want to have another child, I should sign up as soon as I could, in case I did want one.