New Jersey, 2023. Riley Carmichael can’t help but feel the emptiness of her own side of the church. For most of Riley’s life it’s just been her and her grandmother, Betty, with late-stage dementia. On one of Riley’s visits to Betty’s nursing home, Betty desperately hands Riley a tatty birth certificate for an unknown baby born in Ireland in the 1950s. Full of questions about her heritage, Riley embarks on a trip to Ireland. Tipperary, Ireland, 1954. Margaret Lannigan’s older sister suddenly passes away, it falls to Margaret to fulfill the family’s commitment to the Church. Margaret is sent to a Home for Fallen Girls to care for expectant mothers who fell pregnant outside of marriage. With no training or midwifery skills, she must fight to provide care she feels these women deserve amid the cruelty and abuse they face.

Dublin, 1969: Maura has just married Dr. Christy Davenport, and they look forward to growing their family. But as her husband’s vicious temper emerges, Maura worries that her home might never be safe for a child. Meanwhile, her close friend Bernie, a mother of three, learns the devastating news that if she conceives again, her health complications could prove fatal. Dublin, 2023: A close call makes Saoirse realize that she may never want to be a mother. Little does she know that only a few decades ago, a group of women made this option possible for her. And she’s about to meet one of them.