A 29-year-old woman has opened up about her decision to become a single mum, having chosen to go it alone using donor sperm.
Sarah McGriff realised she was ready to become a parent in November 2021, saying she was 'ready to love’ a child.
“I thought, 'You can do this at any point, and if someone were to come along, then that's great too,'” she explained.
McGriff had the full support of her parents, who knew she would do her ‘her way no matter what’, so she came off birth control and started preparing her body for insemination via donor sperm.
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It was then that an ex reached out, hoping to reconnect.
McGriff, from New Sharon, Iowa, US, said: "When he reached out, I thought, 'I'm not going to pause all of this just because of him, but I'm not going to say no to potentially reconnecting', so I did.
"I listened to what he had to say and we did chat a little bit. He didn't live in the same state as me, so I travelled to go and see him.
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"That's when I realised he was casually dating multiple women at the same time. It solidified that I was making the right choice by deciding to become a solo parent."
McGriff became pregnant using a method of artificial insemination called IUI, which was as simple as ordering donor sperm online and inserting it via a catheter.
"They ship it to your house and you do it yourself,” she explained.
"The sperm samples are expensive, and I still have some left so that my daughter can potentially have a fully biological sibling someday."
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When it came to choosing a donor, McGriff said the first stage involved genetic testing to ensure her baby would be as healthy as possible.
The school business official continued: "I just spit in a tube and sent it in. I was able to test my genetics to see what dominant and recessive genes I had for any sort of diseases or conditions.
"I then went on the cryrobank site and filtered by those DNA characteristics to make sure I wasn't matching up with any genes that could cause problems.
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"When my daughter is 18, she can request the donor's identification if she wants to, which is totally up to her."
McGriff welcomed daughter Anniston in April this year, having joined single mother support groups on Facebook to help prepare for the new arrival.
"I thought there might be more conservative mindsets in my small town around what a family should look like, but I've been amazed at the support I've received,” she said.
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"The only negative comments I have received so far are from people I don't know - strangers on the internet. But at the end of the day, there are all different kinds of families in this world.
"I am very involved in my church. People there are of the opinion that everyone is helping raise this child."
McGriff also said there are sibling registries for children conceived via donor sperm, and she knows that her daughter has at least one sibling already.
She added: "If they choose to meet at some point, I think that would be great too.
"I'll be making a picture book for Anniston that explains everything."
McGriff said that while she is still open to meeting someone the old-fashioned way, she’s not currently dating - instead focusing all of her attention on little Anniston.
"Luckily, Anniston still has a lot of amazing male influences in her life like her grandpa and my bother-in-law, who are both keen to help out,” she said.
"I would advise any other women considering becoming solo parents to just do it. Don't wait until it's your last option.
"If someone comes along and wants to be in a relationship with you, they will just need to have extra love to give."
Topics: Parenting
Jess Hardiman