1976: Dr. Chris Karras was hired at Pine Valley Hospital to help lighten Dr. Clader’s load. She discovered that Anne Martin was suffering from toxoplasmosis, putting her unborn daughter, Beth Martin, in harms way. She suggested a therapeutic abortion, but Anne was adamant about having her child.

1977: Chris encouraged Paul and Anne to seek help for their daughter, who was going to be born handicapped. Anne reacted by having Chris blacklisted from her case.
Chris had her own problems to deal with. Someone was haunting her with death threats. She turned to the recently returned Dr. Jeff Martin to help her sort out the ordeal. Dr. David Thornton weaseled his way between them. He had caught Chris writing the death threats to herself. Undergoing some hypnotherapy, Chris realized she had written the notes. She had long believed herself to be her father’s murderer. To come to grips with the trauma, she had created two separate personalities. David helped her recover.
David proposed to Chris. Jeff discovered David was keeping a secret. He was actually still married with child. David assured Chris that it was just a matter of signing some papers. Chris agreed to wait for David.

1978: Chris was tired of the drama David had brought to her life. She began to see Jeff, but David was relentless. One night, she received a frantic call from David. She rushed to his cabin only to find him dead. The police arrived and took her into custody. Things were not looking good for Chris because of her recent breakup with David and her mental history.
Jeff saved Chris from a sure fate with evidence of David’s machinations. He had been poisoning Edna, but accidentally taken a lethal dose himself. Exonerated, she ran into Jeff’s arms. Not long after, they married.

1979: Chris and Jeff’s marriage was on the rocks. Chris never had a big family. She had not realized what marrying into the Martin family met. She secretly took a job in San Francisco, and told Jeff if he wanted their marriage to work he would follow her there. Jeff reluctantly left Pine Valley, determined to make his marriage work.