More than a third of children born to single mothers from IVF treatment have mixed or negative feelings about not having a father, research has found.
So-called ‘solo mothers’ form a growing number of those having fertility treatment – but little research has been done on the effects on their children.
Typically well-educated and with good careers, they have children without a partner out of choice because they fear that time is running out for them to have a baby, and conceive through a sperm donor, the Cambridge University researchers said.
Some 39 per cent of the children in the survey, who were aged four to nine, were ‘neutral’ about not having a father around, according to interviews with solo mothers.
But a significant number were less happy, with mothers saying 27 per cent had ‘mixed feelings’ about not having a father, and another 8 per cent feeling ‘negatively’ about it.
One mother of a five-year-old boy told them: ‘I remember the first time he asked me a question, was when he was about three, and we were coming home from swimming and this little voice in the back of the car said, “Mummy, why don’t I have a daddy”.’
Another solo mother, of twin seven-year-old girls, said: ‘They don’t talk about the donor – they talk about a father figure and “You need to go out and find somebody to be a dad to us”.
Solo mothers – who have neither a male or a same-sex partner – form 15 per cent of all women registered at IVF clinics for treatment – this has risen by 226 per cent since 2006.
34 Percent of the children had suffered ‘trivial teasing’ about not having a father.
Most of the mums would have preferred a traditional family set-up, and it’s not surprising that some of the mothers reported that their children feel negatively or have mixed feelings about the absence of a father, because they live in a world where a nuclear family is still largely the norm.
Many children produced without any relationship between their biological parents face significant psychological challenges. Children produced by donor sperm will question who they are and why they are here in a way that those brought up by their biological father and mother will not.
Daily Mail