Until fairly recently, it could take time to find a clinic willing to treat single women, but this is changing and it is now much easier to get treatment as a single woman or in a lesbian partnership. Your doctor should be able to refer you to a clinic, and the main problem you could face is a waiting list for sperm, as many clinics are experiencing a shortage of donors. If you know someone who might be willing to donate for you, that can make it much quicker.
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| Quick Ways To Get Pregnant Naturally |
Women choosing this option often used to do the whole thing at home themselves, but going through a clinic that the sperm will be screened for infection, and checked to make sure it is healthy and viable. The clinic will also make sure you are ovulating normally.
If you are using sperm from a sperm bank, you will have some choice about the donor. Women are usually advised to try to select someone who has their coloring and physical characteristics. Some women feel they want to be able to make very definite decisions about this, but others don't. Doctors normally suggest IUI (intrauterine insemination), where the sperm is inserted right through the cervix into the womb itself to maximize the chances of success, and this will involve a number of visits to the clinic to ensure that the insemination takes place at the right point in your cycle.
Counseling
Anyone who is considering donor insemination should be offered counseling, and your clinic should make sure that you have seen a counselor before going ahead with any treatment. Counseling can help you work through any uncertainties you may have, and should cover the issues and implications you will need to have thought about. The counselor will want to discuss your feelings and motives, and will try to ensure you have thought through the realities of bringing up a child by yourself.
They should also talk through what you are going to tell the child about his or her father, and the way they were conceived. Most of these issues are likely to be things you have considered anyway, but it can still be useful to spend some time talking them through.
Your chances of success
Like any kind of fertility treatment, or indeed natural conception, donor insemination doesn't always work the first time. It may take a few attempts, and this can be difficult if you are very aware of your age. Just as with natural conception, the chances of treatment working are reduced as you get older, and it is important to take this into consideration.
'The clinic were open and honest with me. I was 40 and they did say that the chances for women of my age were reduced, but there were no factors in my condition that led them to think I wasn't still capable of having a baby. It didn't work the first time, but I had already prepared myself for the fact that often these things don't work the first time, and the fact that it may never work. It did work the second time.' Sally, 47
Pregnancy as a lone parent
Once you are pregnant, the whole experience of carrying a baby, giving birth and then looking after your small child can be challenging in any circumstances. Coping with all this by yourself can be incredibly hard work, and it is often very lonely, even if you have established a good support network, and you should be prepared for this.
'I found in pregnancy the hardest thing was going to scans on my own, going to classes on my own. I felt very isolated. It's a very difficult experience on your own, in the middle of the night when you've had no sleep, there's no one there and you're stuck with a screaming baby and you haven't a clue. Even now I still find it quite difficult to deal with the isolation.' Lynne, 36. To find out more, you can check out Quick Ways To Get Pregnant Naturally.
