Where Should I Start?
reader's guide to the Unborn Child Protection Act universe, where each story offers a different perspective on the same evolving legal landscape.
If you've just discovered the Unborn Child Protection Act universe, welcome. Whether you found your way here through one of the novels, a podcast interview, social media, or a recommendation from another reader, you're probably asking the same question:
Where should I start?
The short answer is The Fatherhood Mandate.
It was the first novel I wrote in the Unborn Child Protection Act universe, and I chose to begin with Sam for a reason.
The genre had already explored what these laws could mean for women. I wanted to ask what they would mean for the men whose lives would be rewritten by them, too.
Sam begins the story believing Rylee’s pregnancy is something happening to her. Instead, he discovers that fetal personhood laws don’t simply redefine pregnancy. They redefine fatherhood, family, responsibility, and choice.
That’s why I recommend beginning with The Fatherhood Mandate. It introduces the legal framework that shapes the entire universe while asking a question I hadn’t seen explored elsewhere:
What happens when becoming a father isn’t your choice?
The Laws Don't Stand Still
The universe begins with a fictional expansion of Wisconsin's real Act 292, a 1997 law that allows a juvenile court to intervene on behalf of an unborn child in limited circumstances. In my fictional timeline, Wisconsin expands the law in 2027 to include a perceived risk of abortion or fetal death.
The Fatherhood Mandate and The Motherhood Mandate take place in 2028-2029, as states begin expanding fetal rights without a comprehensive federal framework. The result is a patchwork of competing laws that creates uncertainty for physicians, families, and the courts while exposing both men and women to consequences few anticipated.
By the time Exit Strategy begins in 2031, the debate has moved beyond competing state laws. Congress has passed a federal anti-abortion law that’s making its way through the courts, leaving physicians, patients, and families trying to navigate a legal system that changes faster than anyone can keep up.
When we get to A Ward of the State in 2042, an entire generation has grown up inside that system. The extraordinary has become ordinary.
Every Story Asks a Different Question
Thin Blue Lines: How does a pregnant woman end up in government custody?
A companion novella that explores the event that brings Rylee to the attention of the state. It isn’t required reading, but it adds depth to everything that follows.
The Fatherhood Mandate: What happens when becoming a father isn’t your choice either?
The beginning of the story through Sam’s eyes.
The Motherhood Mandate: What does that same story look like from Rylee’s perspective?
The same events, the same timeline, seen through the person living inside the legal system.
Exit Strategy: How do women fight back?
By 2031, crossing a state line is no longer enough. Mackenzie isn’t simply trying to survive the system. She’s building a way around it.
Exit Strategy is the bridge between the Unborn Child Protection Act universe and the By Her Hand series. This new series follows the women determined to resist a government that has steadily expanded its control over reproduction.
A Ward of the State: What happens to the next generation?
Fourteen years after Sam and Rylee’s story begins, Allison inherits a world built by decisions made before she was born.
No single book tells the whole story because no single character experiences the whole system.
Sam, Rylee, Mackenzie, and Allison each witness a different stage in the evolution of the same legal landscape. Together, their stories form the Unborn Child Protection Act universe.