Chelsea, Billy, Victoria Y&R
Credit: Image: CBS screenshot

Will The Young and the Restless character try to regain custody?

It has been eight years since Young & Restless’ Chelsea Lawson turned up on Billy and Victoria’s doorstep just as they returned home from their honeymoon in Jamaica, pregnant and claiming that Billy had raped her in Myanmar. Of course, it turned out the con artist bartender had spiked Billy’s drink and he didn’t remember having sex with her, but a DNA test revealed he was the father of the unborn baby.

Victoria and Billy took Chelsea in, and before the baby was born, Michael Baldwin drew up a termination of parental rights document that Chelsea signed after receiving reassurances she’d remain known to the child, and Victoria adopted the boy, now known as Johnny. Baldwin warned Billy at the time that prenatal custody agreements weren’t ironclad, but it’s been eight years, so it couldn’t possibly become an issue now… could it?

Chelsea went on to meet Adam and they now have a son of their own, Connor, who received Billy’s late daughter, Delia’s corneas, after her death in a hit-and-run accident involving a car driven by Adam. As a result of Adam covering it up, Billy developed intense animosity toward Chelsea’s husband, and went after him with a gun, and more recently, a print publication.

We’ve rarely heard Chelsea mention her biological son with Billy, yet when confronting him after his exposé on Adam, out of the blue she snapped, “If I knew how vicious you and Victoria would turn out to be I would’ve never let you adopt Johnny.” What?! It was truly a ‘pot calling the kettle black’ moment as Chelsea has a considerable list of transgressions to her name, and not in the distant past as it’s only been a few years since she extorted money from Lauren’s business.

We’d have taken this as a one-time nod to history, except the preview for next week at the end of Friday’s episode showed Chelsea telling Billy she wants to see Johnny. This can only spell trouble! As all seasoned soap viewers know, nothing happens without a reason – especially if it happens twice – which likely means Chelsea’s going to come for Johnny as retaliation for Billy and Victoria teaming up to make Adam’s life more miserable with ‘The Making of a Monster’.

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So, would Chelsea have a leg to stand on? According to the family law firms we checked, regaining custody after signing away parental rights would require a long court battle and an exceptionally skilled attorney – even then there is no guarantee. Chelsea might have a shot given that this is a soap opera and that she wasn’t prosecuted for her extortion scheme, but she’d almost certainly have to part ways with Adam.

Do you think Chelsea will go for custody of Johnny? Would you like to see her succeed if she did? Take a look back at Chelsea’s life on The Young and the Restless in the gallery below. Get your free daily soap-opera fix for Young and Restless — and all of the other daytime dramas — delivered straight to your email inbox by signing up for Soaps.com’s newsletter.