help and info

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organisations

Donor Conception Network
PO Box 7471
Nottingham NG3 6ZR
Tel: 020 8245 4369
Website: www.donor-conception-network.org
A network of parents with children conceived with donated sperm, eggs or embryos, adult offspring, and those contemplating or undergoing treatment. Members include married and unmarried couples, single women, lesbian couples, parents who have been separated, divorced or widowed - and individual adults who are donor offspring.

Gingerbread
7 Sovereign Close
Sovereign Court
London E1W 2HW
Advice Line: 0800 018 4318 (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm)
Website: www.gingerbread.org.uk
Provides day-to-day support and practical help for lone parents and their children via a national network of local self-help groups. Call the helpline for advice on benefits, childcare, CSA, contact, divorce, employment, housing, maternity rights and lone parenthood.

Infertility Network UK
43 St Leonards Road
Bexhill on Sea TN40 1JA
Tel: 08701 188088
Website: www.infertilitynetworkuk.com
Provides information and emotional support and encourages infertility research and awareness.

OASIS (Overseas Adoption Support and Information Service)
Helpline: 0870 241 7069 (Mon-Fri, normal hours)
Website: www.adoptionoverseas.org
UK-based membership group offering support for people who wish to adopt, or who have already adopted, children from orphanages overseas. Call the OASIS helpline for information on overseas adoption – if this number is not answered directly, a recorded message will give you the telephone number of the member on duty. The website includes links to other relevant organisations and discussion groups.

One Parent Families
255 Kentish Town Road
London NW5 2LX
Tel: 020 7428 5400
Helpline: 0800 018 5026 (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm; Wed 9am-8pm)
Website: www.oneparentfamilies.org.uk
Offers an information service for lone parents as well as other organisations, local authorities and the media. Also campaigns to change the law and improve provisions for lone-parent families.

websites

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA)
http://www.hfea.gov.uk
The official body that inspects and regulates fertility clinics in the UK. Provides free information to people considering, or having, fertility treatment (The HFEA Guide to Infertility). Has a search facility on its website to select a regulated clinic most suited to your needs, including their success rates for treatment. For copies of the Guide, email admin@hfea.gov.uk, quoting "Baby Race".

Insemination for lesbians and single women
www.womenshealthlondon.org.uk/leaflets/...
Online leaflet published by Women's Health London that provides information on self insemination and donor insemination for women who do not want to have sex with a man.

Lesbian friendly donor insemination clinics in the UK
www.pinkparents.org.uk/cliniclist.shtml
List of 'lesbian friendly' clinics from PinkParents, the UK project providing support to lesbian, gay and bisexual parents. They state about this list: 'At the following clinics, there is no overt discrimination against lesbians and single women, according to reports to PinkParents from lesbians who have attended or phoned these clinics.'

Planning a family using donor insemination
www.donor-conception-network.org/baselibletts4.htm
One of a series of open letters on the Donor Conception Network website written from experienced parents for those just starting down the road of family creation. This letter is from a woman called Emily and is written for any single woman thinking of becoming a mother through donor conception. They also publish a letter to would-be lesbian mothers.

Single Mother
http://www.singlemother.typepad.com/
Website for single mothers and those looking at their options or seeking actively to become one.

Single Mothers By Choice
http://mattes.home.pipeline.com/
Website of the US-based membership organisation which provides information, resources, and a unique support network for women who are just beginning to consider the possibility of becoming a single mother, are trying to adopt or conceive, or are already a mother.

What you need to know about using donated eggs, sperm or embryos
www.hfea.gov.uk/HFEAPublications/..
HFEA leaflet designed to help you prepare to receive donated sperm, eggs or embryos, enable you to understand how the law affects you and your family, answer your questions and encourage you to think about the emotional and psychological issues you will face.

news reports

BBC News, June 2002
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/...
Article exploring why solo mothers opt to try to get pregnant by using sperm from a donor.

The Guardian, June 2000
http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/...
Four women who've had babies with the help of a clinic or friends explain why they're glad that they decided to go it alone.

The Guardian, August 2005
http://society.guardian.co.uk/health/story/...
At the launch of a consultation paper into NHS fertility treatment, public health minister Caroline Flint argues that NHS treatment should be strictly the privilege of the traditional two-parent, heterosexual family.

The Observer, May 2005
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/focus/story/...
In 1983, Observer readers were outraged when a single mother wrote to justify her choice. In this article, Stephanie Merritt asks how much has changed in 22 years.

reading

The Complete Single Mother: Reassuring Answers to Your Most Challenging Concerns (3rd Ed) by Andrea Engber and Leah Klungness (Adams Media Corporation, 2006)
Whether a single mum by choice or chance, this book will help you explore important issues such as finances, dealing with the absent father, custody, dating and remarriage.
Get this book

Helping the Stork: The Choices and Challenges of Donor Insemination by Carol Frost Vercollone, Heidi Moss and Robert Moss (Hungry Minds Inc, 1997)
A sourcebook of information about the choices and challenges of donor insemination.
Get this book

Mommies, Daddies, Donors, Surrogates: Answering Tough Questions and Building Strong Families by Diane Ehrensaft (Guilford Press, 2005)
Written by a developmental psychologist, this guide is for both those who are contemplating donor conception and those who are already parents, whether in heterosexual, lesbian couple or single parent families.
Get this book

Single Mothers by Choice by Jane Mattes (Times Books 1994)
A handbook for women who have chosen single motherhood offers an analysis of available options, from artificial insemination to adoption, and examines the special problems, questions, and rewards of single motherhood.
Get this book

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