Synopsis
At the beginning of the twenty-first century, as the female birthrate suddenly drops, Craig Steben joins the research staff at The Long Island Institute of Female Health. Time is running out and people are frantic over the forecast of the last female birth expected in a couple of years. McBrian, an outcast of the medical community, clutches a cigar butt between his teeth and shouts at his staff as they prepare to deliver the baby. A cow bellows as its womb gives up a newborn seven pound, eight ounce baby girl. McBrian has perfected a temporary bovine alternative to a human uterus, but he has bigger plans to further exploit Decreasing Female Births. Desperate to uncover even one shred of information to reverse DFB, Craig works long hours and moonlights at McBrian's even though he comes to despise McBrian's motives and exploitive behavior. Craig's scientific hunger to solve DFB is further ignited by his fatherly concern for his three sons who will be doomed to a life without women. There are ten men for each woman in college and barely one girl in each elementary class.
Women are calling the shots as their numbers dwindle an even with preferential job opportunities, many become Sexual Therapists. It's a patriotic profession that preserves heterosexuality while providing an income greater than most corporate executives. Cooperation between countries dissolves into a "uterine war" with each government trying to solve DFB at the exclusion of their neighbors. With Craig's help, McBrian will perfect a synthetic uterus and further enrich himself and his powerful partners. They intend to become the nation's primary source of female fetuses when human uteruses completely fail. Craig's research breakthrough is about to destroy McBrian's grand plans. McBrian will do anything to derail Craig as he races toward the solution. Craig's quest is further complicated by his compulsive behavior and extra-marital excursions which are shattering his fragile marriage.
