A country votes on banning natural birth—and one young woman stands in the crossfire.
Europe, 2096. As birthrates collapse, most children are now born in artificial wombs and raised in state-run Centers as “Regulars.” Those born naturally live apart, relics of a fading past.
Seventeen-year-old Grace has always trusted the system that shaped her—until a banned book awakens her curiosity. On a school trip, she meets Tom from the Natural-Born district, and begins to glimpse a life unscripted by algorithms and caretakers.
When a minister launches a referendum to outlaw natural birth “for the children’s sake,” tensions erupt. Drawn to Tom and a shared secret, Grace must choose: protect the future she was raised for—or risk everything for a life that no one else believes in.
Tense, intimate, and plausibly near, Birthright explores who gets to decide how we are made—and how much certainty we are willing to trade for choice.
Max Malterer writes near-future novels that feel close enough to touch — stories where everyday lives collide with plausible technologies, and the hardest choices are human.
He calls his approach Speculative Realism: character-first fiction where big ideas are carried by lived moments rather than explanation. Stories where emotion and ideas meet, and realistic what-ifs quietly reshape how we see familiar choices.
His stories aren’t predictions. They’re invitations to step into near futures, to sit with uncomfortable trade-offs, and to leave seeing at least one belief a little differently.View all by Max Malterer
