The reasons why a woman living alone wants to have a child vary. Some women cannot find the right partner to be the father of their child. For other women, the biological clock is ticking. But she does not have a steady partner at the moment. Some women don't want to commit just for the sake of having a child. And other women live in an erotic relationship with a woman and see themselves as single.

Singleness in society is progressing. But this does not necessarily mean that women do not want to have children. Women today are much more emancipated and autonomous. They sometimes decide for themselves whether they want to have children or not. It is now a matter of luck to find the right partner before the biological clock starts ticking. Today, no woman should marry a partner just to become a mother during her childbearing years. Moreover, it is no longer assumed that the chosen one will ever want to have children or take care of a child for the rest of her life.

Redefining the concept of family

The term family can now include people who think of themselves as family. It can be a family of friends, including current romantic partners. This does not imply any obligations, but an interconnected group of people who support each other. It may be an alternative living community or some other constellation.

The former understanding of the "mother-father-child" constellation has now been expanded to include new variations. Marriage is no longer seen as a community of care for which there is no alternative. In our culture, marriages of love are replacing the former marriages of convenience. Having a child no longer forces a single woman to marry the child's father. Nevertheless, it is possible to create a stable situation that resembles an intact family. This would make it easier to provide for a child.

A single mother? No problem.

Single women can become mothers today. If they meet a man later, the child is not necessarily an obstacle to a relationship. A single mother is no longer stigmatised as "immoral". Rather, it fits the image of an emancipated woman who knows what she wants. Not all single mothers are abandoned or separated.

It doesn't necessarily have to be adoption if things don't work out with your own child. There are also a lot of requirements for single people. They have to fill in a lot of paperwork before they are allowed to adopt children. The bureaucratic hurdles to adoption are high. As a result, this option is often not considered by single women. Anonymous sperm donation and IVF are often better alternatives. For single women, therefore, artificial insemination is the appropriate way to have a child without being in a committed relationship.

More and more women without a partner are "single mothers by choice". Thanks to insemination (IUI) and in vitro fertilisation (IVF), every healthy woman can now have a child. However, the questions that need to be answered before IVF are not without their own difficulties. The reactions of those close to you have to be taken into account. In addition, the child will later want to know why it does not have a real father. However, if the IUI or IVF has been carried out as an 'open' procedure, the child can later meet its biological father.

It is possible, however, that answering such questions may reveal that a woman would be better off with a foster child. She may be more accepted by her social circle. However, the surrogate mother usually has to say goodbye to foster children sooner than to her own child. Foster children are only entrusted to a foster mother for a certain period of time. Your own child often does not leave the nest until it is an adult. But they remain more attached to you.

Singles today have more freedom of choice.

Statistics show that more and more young women and men want to start a family later in life. And if the right partner is not found, being a single woman is no longer a stigma. The desire to have children can still be fulfilled later in life, for example through IVF.

However, the desire to have children should not be put on the agenda too late. If you haven't found the right man and the biological clock keeps ticking, sooner or later many single women will face the question of IIUI or IVF.

Men, too, often live out their dreams. They have careers and enjoy their freedom. Sometimes they don't want to take on responsibility at a young age and decide to become fathers later and later.

Before a woman breaks off a relationship because she wants to have a child, she prefers to fulfil her desire for a child through sperm donation. In doing so, she assumes sole responsibility for the newborn child - with all the consequences that entails. It is no longer unusual for a single woman to want to have a child.

When the biological clock ticks

German statistics show that more than 50 percent of young men between 25 and 35 were childless because they wanted to be. Career aspirations or personal freedom have become more important to many young men than starting a family quickly. However, the age between 25 and 35 is exactly the time frame in which a woman can bear healthy children. Pregnancy at the age of 35 is considered unproblematic nowadays. But the risk of having a disabled child increases.

Nowadays, many women no longer find the traditional family image of "mother-father-child" to be without alternative. More and more women are making a career for themselves at a young age. This does not necessarily mean a permanent existence as a single woman - but the desire to have children is put on the back burner for the time being. If it becomes stronger later in life, sometimes there is no suitable child father available. The desire to have a child is therefore fulfilled by IVF and professional life is put on the back burner for a while in favour of the child.

Child and career - no longer an irreconcilable contradiction

Supportive grandparents, childminders, all-day kindergartens and crèches close to the workplace make it possible for working women to combine children with a career. Legislation also ensures that single mothers are better off. All this has helped to ensure that the rise in singlehood has not led to a dramatic fall in the birth rate. But no one can predict how things will develop in the future. After all, a single woman must be able to afford to have children.

If a woman wants to have more than one child, the conditions are already in place. It will probably be difficult to combine two children with a career. This is only possible under optimal conditions - for example, if the woman is self-employed or freelance and can organise her time freely. Raising a child today also means many restrictions. It means having to make compromises that limit your freedom to develop yourself.

Nevertheless, many women who have undergone IUI and IVF say that they have never regretted their decision. For most women, the desire to have a child was stronger than anything that could have stood in their way.