SPOILER ALERT: Harrison Abbott’s biological mother has been missing from Genoa City for five years, but one unfinished chapter of The Young and the Restless could bring Tara Locke crashing back into the Abbott family. Summer Newman has spent years being Harrison’s mother, yet the circumstances surrounding her adoption of Kyle Abbott’s son have never been fully explained. If Tara finally returns, Summer could face a devastating question: What really happened to Harrison’s birth mother before another woman legally became his mom?
Tara’s disappearance began in 2021, when her carefully constructed life collapsed. After her affair with Kyle resulted in Harrison’s birth, Tara initially allowed Ashland Locke to believe he was the boy’s father. The truth eventually emerged, bringing Kyle into Harrison’s life and creating a complicated family situation that Tara struggled to control.
Things became uglier when Tara joined forces with Sally Spectra to drive Summer out of Genoa City. Tara wanted Kyle for herself, while Sally had her own reasons for wanting Summer gone. Together, they manipulated the situation until Summer accepted a career opportunity in Italy, leaving Kyle behind.
But Phyllis Summers refused to believe her daughter had simply walked away from the man she loved.
Phyllis investigated Tara and uncovered financial misconduct involving her fashion business. Tara was eventually arrested on embezzlement charges and taken to New York, abruptly disappearing from Harrison’s life. Kyle was left raising their son, while Summer eventually returned to rebuild her relationship with him.
That should have been the end of Tara’s story. Instead, Y&R quietly introduced another mystery.
In August 2024, Summer revealed that she had adopted Harrison while she and Kyle were living in Italy. The revelation established that Summer was more than Harrison’s stepmother, but it also raised a question the show never fully answered: How did Tara’s parental rights disappear?
An arrest for financial crimes does not automatically explain how another woman became the legal mother of Tara’s child. Did Tara voluntarily consent to the adoption? Was there a separate legal proceeding? Did she believe Harrison would have a better life without her?
And most importantly, what does Harrison know about the woman who gave birth to him?
Those unanswered questions create the perfect opening for Tara’s return.
Imagine Kyle receiving an unexpected message from New York. Tara is no longer willing to remain silent, and she wants to see Harrison. Kyle initially believes he can handle the situation privately, but everything changes when Tara reveals that she wants answers about the adoption.
Summer would have every reason to panic. She has loved Harrison, raised him and fought to remain part of his life. Tara’s reappearance would not erase those years, but it could force Summer to confront a part of Harrison’s history that she has never had to explain publicly.
The real shock could come from the adoption paperwork itself.
If Tara challenges the circumstances surrounding the adoption, Kyle and Summer could be forced to revisit decisions they made years earlier. A missing explanation, an unexpected statement or an old agreement could suddenly become central to the Abbott family’s future.
And Tara would have another unfinished battle waiting for her in Genoa City.
Phyllis was the woman who exposed Tara’s financial misconduct and helped bring down her carefully constructed scheme. If Tara believes Phyllis played a larger role in separating her from Harrison, their next confrontation could become explosive.
Phyllis would undoubtedly defend her actions as protecting Summer and Harrison. Tara, however, could argue that exposing her crimes was one thing, while allowing her son to grow up without knowing her was another.
That distinction could turn an old rivalry into a deeply personal family conflict.
The most heartbreaking part would belong to Harrison. After years of calling Summer his mother, how would he react to learning that Tara wants to return to his life?
Would he remember her? Would he ask why she disappeared? And what happens if the adults cannot agree on how much of the truth he deserves to hear?
Tara’s return and any challenge to the adoption remain speculative; Y&R has not confirmed either development. But the established history leaves a powerful unresolved question.
Summer became Harrison’s mother. Tara never received a fully explained ending. And the missing story between those two events could become the Abbott family’s next devastating secret.
