More women than ever are going it alone with fertility treatment — I’ll be one of them

3,548. That’s the number of single women who underwent IVF alone in just the last year.

That’s an 82% increase on the figure from 2019, or 1,595 more women, who are choosing to become single parents through fertility treatment.

Yes, heterosexual couples still make up 90% of the IVF patients, according to HFEA’s (the UK’s independent regulator of fertility treatment) latest data, but why has there been a surge in single women using it to become mothers?

Elizabeth Morris, 32, is one of the many women who is single and considering fertility treatment to have a baby.

‘I have always seen kids in my future, but now I’ve reached my thirties and I’m still single, it sometimes feels like the traditional route is not in the cards for me,’ she tells Metro.

‘In an ideal world I would go through that journey with a partner – someone I am in love with and who loves me, who shares the same values as me and would want to raise a child in that way.

‘But I am also a realist and if push comes to shove, I wouldn’t want to miss out on having kids just because I haven’t met the right person.’

While she isn’t writing off meeting someone just yet, she has looked into other routes to motherhood, researching donor insemination (of which 50% of patients are single women) and having a blood test to determine how many eggs she has.

Dr Sami Almusawa, medical director and leading fertility consultant at Plan Your Baby, says the number of single women he’s seen, like Elizabeth, who are seeking advice on IVF to embark on a solo pregnancy journey has nearly doubled over the past three years.

‘I think this is due to changing societal norms,’ he tells Metro. ‘There’s an acceptance of single parenthood and non-traditional family structures, reducing the stigma around being a single mother.’

He also believes that increased financial independence among women has allowed them to consider the possibility of being a single parent, while awareness about what fertility treatments are available has increased.

Some of the women coming to Dr Almusawa for advice also shared that they’ve prioritised their careers and education, rather than their love life, but still want children despite their relationship status.

This was the case for Danielle Buttle who, when she reached 30 and was single, began to ‘panic’ she hadn’t found the one. She was financially independent because she owned her own dance school, so, she spent £3,000 on IVF to have her baby boy Robin.

‘It was the best decision I ever made,’ she said in a previous interview. ‘Now I have a gorgeous baby boy and I just can’t stop staring at him.’

Like Danielle, Elizabeth also hasn’t found someone she loves to have a baby with, since she broke up with her long-term boyfriend in her late twenties.

‘I’m very independent and self-sufficient (I live alone; I travel alone; I am not reliant on anyone else in terms of income) and so I don’t think it’s as daunting a prospect for me to go it alone with a child as it might be for others,’ she explains.

Elizabeth has also seen her friends struggle with partners who weren’t pulling their weight with co-parenting, so she’s content with the responsibility of a child resting on her shoulders alone – and at least it means she won’t be disappointed in a partner.

‘I don’t know if this is enough, but I do also feel my body craving a baby now in a way that I didn’t when I was younger,’ she adds. ‘I don’t feel incomplete or anything like that; I just feel ready.’

There was an incredible 52,500 patients who underwent IVF treatment in the UK in 2022, a slight increase from the 50,000 recorded in 2019.

Courtney Cecil was among them, and spent £37,000 at the age of 25 to become a single mother to her daughter Daisy. This was after coming out of an eight year relationship where she had lost her first baby due to Turner syndrome – a chromosomal condition that affects development.

Due to her fertility issues, waiting could have made conceiving even more difficult, so she took the plunge and started IVF, giving birth to Daisy in September in 2023.

Although it ‘has its challenges,’ Courtney says she’s ‘never regretted it,’ adding: ‘I have my own baby, car, and house. I make all the decisions, as I am mum and dad. I wouldn’t have it any other way.’

Do you agree that single women should have equal access to fertility treatments?Comment Now

That doesn’t mean IVF is easy to access for singles though. Dr Almusawa, explains that many single women won’t be eligible for any NHS funded fertility treatments because of the restrictive criteria.

Back in 2019, former Made In Chelsea star Ashley James branded this NHS policy on IVF funding unfair.

She said on Good Morning Britain: ‘I pay my taxes like everyone else. The NHS is for everyone, therefore I feel like I should have the right to have IVF. I’m a single woman in my thirties. I’m not single because it’s a lifestyle.

‘I haven’t found the right partner to have a child with. Surely it’s better to have a planned, very much wanted child than to have an unplanned child.’

Although Ashley acknowledged that it wasn’t a ‘life or death’, she argued she should be entitled to NHS funded fertility treatment. Others disagreed though, saying being single didn’t equate to a health issue, and that funding should be reserved for women with fertility problems.

In general, the number of NHS-funded cycles has fallen from 40% to just 27% over a 10 year period from 2012 to 2022.

The East Midlands had the largest decrease from 1,451 funded cycles in 2019 to 753 in 2022, while Yorkshire and the Humber had the largest increase at +17%.

Despite this, approximately 8,000 (11%) more IVF cycles took place across the UK in 2022 than in 2019, although Dr Almusawa also believes there are still several barriers to accessing fertility treatments in the UK – especially for single women.

These include the cost of egg freezing, IVF and other fertility treatments when NHS funding isn’t available, as well as Clinical Commissioning Groups and private clinics creating inconsistent policies when it comes to treatment accessibility.

‘Stigma and societal pressure can be also be significant barriers,’ Dr Almusawa adds. ‘Single women might find they face judgement or a lack of support from family or friends.

Despite the chances of falling pregnant decreasing with age, HFEA’s study found the average woman undergoing fertility treatment for the first time is now more than 35 years old.

This is a hefty gap between the average age of women in England and Wales who gave birth to their child without medical intervention, which was 29.2 years old as of 2022.

But if you’re a single woman considering embarking on an IVF or DI journey, Dr Almusawa urges you to begin exploring your options in your early thirties.

This timing allows you to assess your fertility status and decide on the best route for you before your fertility declines significantly. If you’re considering egg freezing, you should be doing so before you hit 35.

Ultimately, the doctor believes that making fertility treatment accessible for single women comes down to a matter of equality, ensuring equal reproductive rights regardless of marital status. What do you think?

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