The Family Experiment : A dark twisty near future page-turner from the 'master of the speculative thriller'

The world's population is soaring, creating overcrowded cities and an economic crisis. And in the UK, breaking point has arrived.

A growing number of people can no longer afford to start families let alone raise them. But for those desperate to experience parenthood, there is an alternative. For a monthly subscription fee, clients can create a virtual child from scratch who they can access via the metaverse and a VR headset.

To launch this new initiative, the company behind Virtual Children has created a reality tv show. It will follow ten couples as they raise a Virtual Child from birth to the age of eighteen but in a condensed nine-month time period. The prize: the right to keep their virtual child or risk it all for the chance of a real baby.