April Epner (HELEN HUNT) is a married, 39-year-old teacher in New York whose biological clock is ticking. So far unable to get pregnant by her fellow schoolteacher husband Ben (MATTHEW BRODERICK), April refuses her mother's call to adopt a child, mainly because she was adopted and would prefer to have the direct bonding that her doctor brother, Freddy (BEN SHENKMAN), had with their mom.
April's natural pregnancy quest is thrown for a loop, however, when Ben unexpectedly announces that married life isn't for him and thus moves out to go home and live with his mother. Things become even more complicated when April's biological mother, daytime TV talk show host Bernice Graves (BETTE MIDLER), suddenly wants to be back in her life, a development that doesn't sit well with April, particularly following the recent death of her adoptive mom.
Things begin to look up a bit when April starts dating Frank (COLIN FIRTH), the divorced father of some students at her school, although both jilted adults are a bit hazy about how to proceed. That's then thrown for a loop when April discovers she's pregnant from a one-time fling of previous break-up sex with Ben. From that point on, she must balance that, the men in her life, and her newly reestablished but rocky relationship with Bernice.