The year is 2045. "Baby Cafes" have become all the rage. For $50 an hour, patrons enjoy unlimited tea, confections, and the heartwarming sensation of motherhood. This cost is twice the minimum wage. The clientele primarily consists of professional women aged twenty-five to fifty-five, who are childless due to economic circumstances.
Happy, upbeat music plays over the speakers. The walls are adorned with incubators facing the street, drawing the adoration of passersby. These onlookers are often captivated by the sight of premature, ill, and newborn babes who aren't yet ready to be on the cafe floor.
For an additional fee, patrons can sing lullabies, read children's stories, or take a baby for an attended stroll in a pram. Day-to-day annoyances like changing diapers and breastfeeding are managed by the employees.
Artificial wombs are a luxury only the wealthy can afford. The cafe depends on donations from the state's foster care system and baby farms. The latter is the preferred source. These farms enforce drug-free policies and provide regulated prenatal assistance. Not to mention, they offer labor opportunities for young migrant women. Economic migration is at an all-time high.
With widely accessible gene editing, babies from baby farms are of superior stock than those donated by the government. It is said that the women have daily Mozart listening sessions and weekly massages. It’s a great opportunity for them. Housing, US citizenship and a bit of cash. Choosing babies from these farms is a sustainable and ethical choice.
Although baby cafes are a huge portion of the farms’ revenue, this option is popular among those who can afford to raise a child but still value the natural aspect. For both parties affordability of quality children is certainly a factor.
The cafe itself promotes adoption. Around three, the children get to be a bit too much to handle. While many patrons choose to pay extra for reading and playtime with the babies, very few can afford to adopt.
Honestly I can imagine this happening.
Huhm, I am not sure what to fully think of this piece - I found taking the cat cafe concept and mixing it to babies to be fascinating, but I feel there's not a central thesis - I'm not sure what the takeaway goal is
Though if i ts just to provoke thought, well done :)