One day at a work retreat, Miriam jokingly reveals her desire to have children, to which her coworkers respond with discomfort and laughter. All except for one man named Ned who reveals that he also wants to father children. Decades prior, the governments of the world came together to dramatically reduce child-bearing, encouraging all citizens to start taking Phri, a contraceptive that is 100% effective. Their intention is to reduce childbirth until the population reaches three billion people, the optimum human population, and until then, their efforts are put towards caring for the elderly and making their lives more comfortable through technology. To their credit, the world has been made into a paradise for adults, but a dystopia for anyone wishing to have children. Now, the only people who have babies are the incredibly rich 'royals' who can afford all the expenses or the shunned 'dropouts'. Dropouts are shunned because, now that childbearing is viewed as an elective decision, one loses their job, healthcare, and social security just for giving birth. Miriam and Ned visit her Aunt Lucille who lives in the edges of town in a dropout neighborhood. Though the place is dingy, it is teeming with children, which excites the two. Speaking with Lydia, they hear the truth about childbearing that the government keeps obscured—that it isn't as terrible, unattainable, or stupid as the government wants them to believe. Out with the dropouts, everyone cares for each other and contributes to the general welfare. Although it is not pristine, Miriam acknowledges that it is a comfortable enough life to raise a child. She and Ned begin planning for their child. Miriam removes her Phri, despite its warnings to her, and she and Ned have sex.