Struggling with infertility and trying to expand your family as a single parent can be difficult. Whether you have dreamt about being a solo mother all your life or things having quite gone to plan and becoming a single parent is something you want to explore, then it might be time to consider your options.
If you are a single woman looking to become a mother, Single women IVF is a safe, medically accepted practice that has standards and checklists at every turn to keep you well-protected, and to ensure the health of you and your baby.
In fact, single parent IVF is on the rise with more people choosing not to wait until they find a partner, or who simply don’t want one before starting a family.
How does single women IVF work? 
If you’re planning to become pregnant without a partner, you will need a referral to a fertility treatment centre by a GP.
Luckily, this practice is on the decline. But if you have been refused a referral from one GP in the past, you should seek out another from a different doctor. Remember that your doctors are there to serve your medical needs, and if they refuse to honour your medical requests (outside of potentially causing harm to yourself or others) you are well within your rights to seek treatment elsewhere.
Single parent IVF works much the same way as any other IVF procedure. You’ll select a donor from a registry, and then proceed with in vitro fertilisation. This means fertilisation outside of the womb, which occurs when the sperm and egg meet in the petri dish.
This will eventually form your baby. After a few weeks of developing in the petri dish to be safe for transport, the embryo will be transplanted into your uterus, where it will be indistinguishable from a more traditional pregnancy.
What support is available for single women IVF?
It is important to have appropriate support from your network throughout this process. As a single parent, and particularly as single women seeking IVF, there may be people who have their own opinions on this process.
Having a supportive network of friends, family, and loved ones can help to create a safe space for you to get support with transportation to doctors’ offices, dealing with the side effects of pregnancy, and just to generally be supportive as you go through this large life change.
Having a supportive fertility treatment centre can also make all the difference. If you have the option, choosing which fertility clinic to go to based on the reviews of past clients can help to make your experience a happy one. You should feel well informed, comfortable with all decisions being made, and happy to interject with questions or objections at any time.
You should also consult a local lawyer or legal provider about whether or not you have the right to financial support from the government as a single parent. This may depend on your individual situation.
Can I choose the sex of my baby?
A common question about IVF is: am I allowed to choose the sex of my own baby? The easy answer is usually, no. In order to determine the sex of the child, a single cell must be removed from the developing embryo, which will let you know the sex along with other genetic information about the child.
For most people this sort of information is not truly necessary, and there are ethical concerns around being able to choose ‘designer babies’. Thus, preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) is illegal in Australia unless you have a genetic condition you are concerned about passing down to a child. In this case, you could get the testing to ensure the embryo you choose doesn’t have the same condition.
If you want to have full autonomy over your family planning process, you can go to Gender Selection Australia. This supportive fertility clinic partners with an Los Angeles (LA) fertility clinic to provide all their clients with consistent support and care throughout the implantation and pregnancy process, as well as allowing the option for PGT.
So, if you are a single woman looking for IVF, we recommend getting in touch with the friendly and informative team at Gender Selection Australia. They will be able to answer any of your questions and help you start growing your own family today!