Rise In Women Taking On Motherhood Alone

By Emma Birchley, Sky News Correspondent

A growing number of single women are seeking fertility treatment as the route to motherhood.

For those unable to find a partner, IVF and donor insemination are increasingly being seen as a viable option.

Lisa Mead, who is 41, first considered adopting in 2006 but when the process was held up, decided to try for her own child, despite not being in a relationship.

She is now mother to Lennie, who is two, and five-month-old Bebe, both conceived with the help of a donor from America.

"All the women I know who have gone down this path, I don't think that any of them imagined they would be in that situation," she said.

"They all imagined they would meet a nice man and it would be how it would pan out how you expect ... you get married, you have kids.

"I don't think anybody has gone about it because they don't want a man around and a lot of women are hoping a nice man will turn up now the children are there, but the pressure is off to find that person in the time you have got in order to become a mum."

According to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, 259 single women had IVF treatment in 2007. By 2012, the number had more than doubled to 632.

And donor insemination for women without a partner also increased from 330 to 468 over the same period.

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Rise In Women Taking On Motherhood Alone