In this reading list
Deciding and preparing
- Choosing Single Motherhood: The Thinking Woman's Guide, by Mikki Morrissette: the decision, the routes, and a child's later questions.
- Single Mothers by Choice: A Guidebook for Single Women Who Are Considering or Have Chosen Motherhood, by Jane Mattes: a guidebook from the founder of the Single Mothers by Choice organisation.
- Maybe Baby, edited by Lori Leibovich: 28 writers on deciding whether to have a child, including ambivalence and solo parenthood.
Memoir
- Going Solo: My choice to become a single mother using a donor, by Genevieve Roberts (Piatkus, 2019): a UK journalist's account of solo motherhood by donor conception.
For your child
- The Pea That Was Me, by Kimberly Kluger-Bell: picture books for ages 3 and up, in separate volumes for single mums and other family and donation types.
- Before You Were Born: Our Wish for a Baby, by Janice Grimes (X, Y and Me, 2004 onwards): picture books for ages 3 to 5, in versions for donor sperm, donor egg, surrogacy, solo mums, solo dads and couples.
If treatment ends without a child
- Living the Life Unexpected: How to find hope, meaning and a fulfilling future without children, by Jody Day (Bluebird, 2020), founder of Gateway Women.
Sources
- Barnes & Noble, Choosing Single Motherhood (Morrissette) (opens in a new tab)
- Barnes & Noble, Single Mothers by Choice (Mattes) (opens in a new tab)
- Barnes & Noble, Maybe Baby (Leibovich) (opens in a new tab)
- Little, Brown Book Group, Going Solo (Roberts) (opens in a new tab)
- Barnes & Noble, The Pea That Was Me, volume 4 (Kluger-Bell) (opens in a new tab)
- AbeBooks, Before You Were Born: Our Wish for a Baby (Grimes) (opens in a new tab)
- Pan Macmillan, Living the Life Unexpected (Day) (opens in a new tab)
Last reviewed 13 September 2026. General information, not medical or financial advice. Your clinic and a regulated adviser can advise on your situation.