Europe, 2096. Half a century after the Big Drop—the collapse of global birthrates—almost every child is now a Regular: genetically tuned, born in artificial wombs, and raised in state-run Centers designed for perfection. Those born the old way, Natural-Borns, live in their own districts, remnants of a past slowly fading from view.
Seventeen-year-old Grace is in her final year at a Center, her days kept on track by AI-guided human caretakers. She has never questioned the system that raised her, grateful for the safety and certainty of a flawless upbringing—until she is gifted a banned book that awakens a longing to see beyond the Center’s walls.
On a school trip to Natural-Born District 1, she meets Tom, whose unscripted life is full of things she’s only read about: families built on warmth and choice, landscapes growing organically, futures that aren’t prewritten. Drawn to him and his different world, Grace starts bending rules—sneaking out, clashing with friends, deceiving caretakers—and begins to notice what her perfect system quietly takes away.
When a charismatic minister drives a referendum to outlaw natural birth “for the children’s sake,” violence flares, and Grace and Tom’s bond collides with old wounds, a fragile new secret, and the cost of exposure. With days dwindling and the system tightening its grip, Grace must make a decision: protect the future that raised her—or risk everything for a life that no one else believes in.
Tense, intimate, and plausibly near, Birthright asks not only who gets to decide how we are made—but how much certainty we are willing to trade for choice.
For readers of Klara and the Sun, The Handmaid’s Tale, and The School for Good Mothers.
