The experimental project called Project Baby X has been organized by a group of scientists. The purpose of the project is to challenge gender discrimination applied to children, and when Baby X is born nobody knows who it is – a baby boy or a baby girl. The parents of the Baby X, though they knew the truth, cannot tell anybody– this item was a part of the experiment. The parents of the Baby X cannot treat the baby like a baby boy or a baby girl, but only as a Baby X. So to find the parents who would meet all the requirements was quite a challenge for the scientists. Finally the scientists found the perfect parents for the Baby X: the Joneses.
The Official Instruction Manual is created by the scientists, and it contains all the rules and demands for the parents. Though everything is clearly delineated in the manual, the Joneses face many difficulties when bringing up Baby X.
One such challenge occurs when clothes, toys, or any other object has to be chosen among all the products offered in the stores. But the Manual says to buy everything, and the more the better. The Joneses comply, and Baby X plays with both dolls and toy cars. Another difficulty occurs up when Baby X happens to communicate with other children in the play area, as everyone is puzzled when Baby X said that it is an X.
But even more troubles appear when X goes to school and has to deal not only with other children, but with the parents of these children. The Parents Association demands that X should be examined, and the truth of X's identity revealed. The school Psychiatrist examines X and determines that X is "not mixed up at all" and is indeed mentally stable with no identity concerns. The children are thrilled, but the parents are enraged. They ultimately agree to respect the psychiatrist's conclusion and stop targeting X and the Joneses. At the end of the story, the Joneses have another baby. X declares that this baby is a "Y."
