Abstract
The experience of single motherhood by choice has become more prevalent in the last twenty years and yet the literature reveals a dirth of information about this parenting style. This article delineates the experience of choosing single motherhood utilizing artificial insemination by donor. Several issues are examined: (a) emotional factors and personality characteristics of the mother, (b) physiological factors related to artificial insemination, (c) ethical and legal considerations of artificial insemination and single motherhood, and (d) various economic concerns related to single motherhood.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Boston Women's Health Book Collective. (1984).The new our bodies, ourselves. New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Chico, N., & Hartley, S. (1981). Widening choices in motherhood of the future.Psychology of Women Quarterly, 6 12–25.
Fox, M. (1980). Unmarried adult mothers: A study of the parenthood transition from late pregnancy to two months postpartum.Dissertation Abstracts International, 40, 4480B.
Glick, P. (1984). American household structure in transition.Family Planning Perspectives, 16 205–211.
Goldsmith, J. (1976). A child of one's own: Unmarried women who choose motherhood.Dissertation Abstracts International, 36 3602–3603B.
Hanson, S., & Sporakowski, M. (Eds.). (1986). The single parent family [Special issue].Family Relations, 35(1).
Hitchens, D. (1984).Lesbian choosing motherhood: Legal issues in donor insemination. (Available from Law Offices of the Lesbian Rights Project; 1370 Mission Street, 4th Floor, San Francisco, California 94103).
Humphreys, C. (1980). Single mothers: An investigation of their experience as single parents.Dissertation Abstracts International, 41, 2297B.
Kilpatrick, M., Smith, C., & Roy, R. (1981). Lesbian mothers and their children: A comparative study.American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 51 545–551.
Kritchevsky, B. (1981). The unmarried woman's right to artificial insemination: A call for an expanded definition of the family.Harvard Women's Law Journal, 4(1), 1–42.
Ory, M. (1978). The decision to parent or not: Normative and structural components.Journal of Marriage and the Family, 40 531–539.
Sander, W. (1985). Economic aspects of single parenthood in Chicago.Journal of Marriage and the Family, 47 497–502.
The Sperm Bank of Northern California. (1984).Annual Report. Oakland, California.
Straits, B. (1985). Factors influencing college women's responses to fertility decision-making vignettes.Journal of Marriage and the Family, 47 585–596.
Strong, C., & Schinfeld, J. (1984). The single woman and artificial insemination by donor.The Journal of Reproductive Medicine, 29 293–299.
Teitjen, A. (1985). The social networks and social support of married and single mothers in Sweden.Journal of Marriage and the Family, 47 489–496.
Tietze, C. (1978). Teenage pregnancies: Looking ahead to 1984.Family Planning Perspective, 10 205–207.
Veevers, J. (1975). The moral careers of voluntarily childless wives: Notes on the defense of a variant world view.The Family Coordinator, 24 473–487.
Ward, L. (1983). Innovative female identity: Experiential antecedents of the capacity for non-traditional childbearing choices.Dissertation Abstracts International, 44, 1582B.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Ann Potter completed her Ph.D. in counseling psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and is Assistant Professor of Nursing at Clarkson College of Nursing, 333 South 44th Street, Omaha, NE 68131. Her current research interests are children and families of alcoholics, nontraditional families including single motherhood by choice, and incest survivors.
Patricia Knaub is Associate Dean of the College of Home Economics and Associate Professor of Human Development and the Family at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her address is 105 Home Economics, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583-0800. She completed her Ph.D. at Nebraska and current research interests include stress and coping strategies of farm families, successful remarriages, and issues related to conception, including transference of myths and artificial insemination.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Potter, A.E., Knaub, P.K. Single motherhood by choice: A parenting alternative. J Fam Econ Iss 9, 240–249 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00988935
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00988935