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 fee, clients can create a virtual child from scratch, accessing them via the Metaverse and a VR headset. To launch this new initiative, the company behind MetaChildren has created a reality TV show. It will follow its contestants as they raise a MetaChild from birth to the age of eighteen, 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 . . .