Children of Ever After

Yearwood (Peyton and Isabelle) delivers a heartrending story of two women linked by a child custody battle in Philadelphia. University professor Rebecca, 40, has longed for children her entire life, but her husband, Will, has put off the question. Still, Rebecca holds out hope until their marriage finally cracks and Will leaves for a new job in New York. In a parallel narrative set across town, 22-year-old Brittney has two toddlers and is pregnant with her third child. Her conservative cop husband, Chris, encouraged her to be a stay-at-home mom, but after he’s fired, he abandons her, and she flounders. Neighbors complain she’s neglecting the children, and all three are taken by child protective services. Rebecca becomes their foster mother and attempts to adopt them, and initially the two women compete for custody. But after they meet during Brittney’s CPS-approved visit with the children, Rebecca sympathizes with her desire to get her kids back, while Brittney realizes Rebecca genuinely wants the best for the children, and the two work together to provide the best possible outcome. Yearwood tackles the complex issues of family planning, motherhood, and adoption head-on, and the story works as well as it does because she offers no easy answers. This is a winner. (Self-published)