How one solo mum by choice built her family from a Tasmanian town of 35 people: a first-try IUI, gestational diabetes, her son's clubfoot treatment, and the four-generation household that helped raise him. An honest look at solo motherhood outside the big cities, from decision to two and a half years in.

Beth Sadowsky is a solo mum by choice and author of Choosing Rose — a children's picture book for SMBC families that answers the question every donor-conceived child asks: "Mommy, why don't I have a daddy?" We talk about how and when to start the conversation, navigating Father's Day, and why you can't get this wrong. Available on Amazon Australia now.

Nine days after telling her family she was done fighting, Jessica's mum died — leaving Jessica to plan a funeral with her five-month-old in the next room. Part 2 of her story: a COVID homecoming gone wrong, grief and gratitude in the same two hands, a tattoo that says "look for the joy," and why she's chosen to be one and done. Honest, heavy in places, and ends somewhere good.

Jessica set a deadline for solo motherhood at 32 — and spent the years before it on nursing school, bariatric surgery and a 70kg weight loss. Then her mum was diagnosed with terminal cancer right as she started IVF. Part 1 of her story: the donor she found in a single afternoon, a lower-than-hoped egg collection, and the calm caesarean that changed everything.

Emma was 32 with an AMH of 8 when she decided to stop waiting and just do it. One round of IVF, first transfer, pregnant. Franklin is now 17 months old. She talks about the decision, choosing a donor by vibe, an hour-15 active labour, mixed feeding, a wedding at 5 days postpartum, and the work complications nobody prepares you for. A warm, reassuring listen for anyone just starting out.

Kristina had IVF at 38 with an implanted defibrillator, a COVID pregnancy, a baby born with talipes (clubfoot), a miscarriage, then moved back to New Zealand 7 months pregnant with her second. Otis is 5 and Ari is 2 and a half. She's just launched her own business. This episode is for anyone with a health condition who thinks solo motherhood might not be possible for them.

Lindsay is the kind of person who, when she decides something is happening, makes it happen.

She promised herself at 27 — the day she left her marriage — that not having a partner would never mean not having a child. She promised herself again at 30, moving to Scotland on her own without knowing a single person. And she promised herself at 35 that if she was still single, she would make it happen that year. She was. She did.

Most of the stories on this podcast start at the beginning. This one starts seven years down the track — and it's one of the most valuable perspectives we have.

Renee made her first appointment at 37, after a colleague finally said the quiet part loud and told her to just do it already. She did two IUI rounds, had a bad experience with her first IVF clinic and walked away, found Dr David Wilkinson at City Fertility, and on her third and final round — a frozen transfer she specifically advocated for against the default fresh option — fell pregnant with Aria. She was 39.

Ashleigh's story is one of those ones that will genuinely reassure anyone who is at the very beginning of this journey and quietly terrified about how long it might take.

She was 33 when a friend planted the seed about egg freezing. She went to an initial clinic consultation — more curious than committed — and on the same day, a colleague at work mentioned she'd just had a baby via IVF with a sperm donor. Two seeds in one day. Eight months later, Ashleigh was pregnant.

Nearly half of first-time mums are induced in Australia — but most don't know what's actually involved. Midwife and solo mum Nat breaks down the full induction process: bishop scores, balloon catheters, oxytocin drips, epidurals, cascade of interventions, and the difference between hospital policy and your actual medical situation. Essential listening before your third trimester.

When Maree came on to record, she had just had her very first IUI. She was 35, freshly into treatment, overwhelmed by the scan schedule, quietly terrified, and moving back in with her parents to make it financially possible. We recorded Part 1 that day.

Then we waited.

Part 2 picks up on the other side — after two unsuccessful IUIs, a full IVF cycle with PCOS that produced 29 eggs and four embryos, a frozen transfer that worked on the first attempt, and the arrival of Ellena via a planned maternal-assisted caesarean. Maree pulled her own daughter out. She cut the cord herself.

PCOS, Perinatal Loss & Pregnancy After Loss — Gemma, Thomas & Henry | No Need for Prince Charming

Gemma shares IVF with PCOS, losing Thomas at 24 weeks, pregnancy after loss, and Henry's emergency C-section at 34 weeks. Raw, honest and deeply moving.

S5:E12 | Luce & Gabe — Part 2: 160 Days, and Then Home

Missed Part 1? Start with S5:E11 — Luce's IVF journey, multiple losses, and the night her membranes ruptured at 22 weeks.

Gabe was born at 10:35am on a Wednesday morning, weighing 598 grams. He was 30 centimetres long. He came out flat and silent, and a team of eight people swooped in immediately. Luce didn't know he was a boy for five full minutes.

By quarter past twelve, she was in a wheelchair going upstairs to meet him.

S5:E11 | Luce — Part 1: The Long Road & the Night Everything Changed

This is a two-part episode. Part 1 ends at the birth. Part 2 — the NICU journey and life now — drops next week.

Some stories you have to tell in two parts. Luce's is one of them.

Luce is a nurse based in regional Victoria who froze her eggs at 36, made the decision to go solo shortly after, and then spent the next four years navigating one of the most complex IVF journeys I've heard on this podcast. Four egg collections. Multiple transfers. Multiple losses. A late endometriosis diagnosis that may have changed everything. And finally — on the most chaotic, stressful, nothing-going-right transfer day imaginable — the embryo that stuck.

What happened next nobody could have predicted.

This is a different kind of episode.

No birth story. No IVF timeline. No newborn update. Just a conversation about the stage that doesn't get talked about nearly enough — the one before any of that happens.

Carrie Meckler is a licensed therapist based in North Carolina who is also a solo mum by choice to a beautiful two-year-old boy. She runs a six-week group program specifically for women in the considering stage, and she joins me this week to talk about what she sees in her clients — and what she went through herself — when women are first sitting with the idea that this might be their path.

Because here's the thing: making this decision is genuinely the hardest part of the entire solo motherhood journey. Harder than the fertility treatment. Harder than the newborn phase. And almost nobody talks about that.

S5:E9 | Michelle & Vayda-Rae — The Long Wait, the Leap & Life on the Other Side

Michelle always knew she wanted to be a mum. What she didn't know was that the path to getting there would involve a two and a half year wait just to choose a donor.

She made her first appointment at Fertility Associates in New Zealand in 2014 at the age of 34, was told there were five donor profiles to choose from, and was promptly put on a waitlist. She spent the next two and a half years living in parallel — open to meeting someone, but keeping her eye firmly on this path. When the call finally came in 2016, she sat down with her five profiles, eliminated three for minor medical reasons and two for wanting more contact than she was comfortable with, and chose the tallest one. Vayda-Rae was born after four IUI cycles — a chemical pregnancy, a negative, an overstimulated cancelled cycle, and then a successful fourth round at 37 — partly funded by her parents.

Solo Mum by choice from the start: Nicola & Luca

Most women who come to solo motherhood have a moment — a relationship that ended, a birthday that passed, a realisation that waiting wasn't working. Nicola never had that moment. She just always knew.

From the time she was young, she never pictured a partner. She pictured kids. Solo motherhood wasn't a plan B for Nicola — it was the only plan. And what makes her story so valuable for this community is that the hard parts she navigated weren't about the decision itself. They were about trusting herself enough to actually go through with it.

From Chronic Illness to Solo Mum: Nelly’s Long Road to Violet

⚠️ Trigger Warning: This episode includes discussion of miscarriage, fertility challenges, and medical complications during pregnancy.

Season 5 continues with Nelly’s story — one of resilience, persistence, and navigating an incredibly complex path to motherhood.

Nelly didn’t grow up assuming she would have children. With a history of renal failure, transplants, and years of medical treatment, motherhood didn’t feel like a given.

But over time, that quiet desire became impossible to ignore.

Season 5 continues with Megan’s story — and her journey to becoming a solo mum by choice.

In this episode, Megan shares how she approached this decision step by step instead of focusing on the end result, and how that made the process feel more manageable.

In this episode, she talks about:

• Listening to other solo mums and how that helped her feel less alone

• Taking the process step by step instead of focusing on the end result

• Known donor conversations and why facilitated conversations are important

• Adjusting her relationship with work after becoming a mum

• Living with her mum and raising her son together

• Trusting that you will figure out parenting as you go

This conversation is thoughtful, calm, and very reassuring for anyone who feels overwhelmed by the idea of making such a big decision.

If the idea of solo motherhood feels too big to think about all at once, this episode is a really comforting reminder that you don’t have to make every decision today — you can just take the next step.

Season 5 continues with Jane’s story — and this is a story that will stay with you.

Jane always knew she wanted to be a mum, but after years of dating and never finding the right partner, she made the decision at 35 to pursue solo motherhood. What followed was a long IVF journey, big financial decisions, and learning to back herself even when the path felt uncertain.

When Jane finally fell pregnant, she received a surprise she never expected — identical twins.

But her pregnancy quickly became high-risk, and what followed was a rollercoaster of fear, resilience, impossible decisions, and navigating motherhood before her babies had even arrived.

Season 5 continues with Hayley’s story — one that will resonate with so many women sitting in the “I know I want a baby… but when?” stage.

Hayley didn’t wake up one day suddenly certain. Instead, her journey was gradual. Thoughtful. Honest.

In this episode, she shares:

• When she realised motherhood wasn’t something she wanted to gamble on

• The internal shift from “maybe later” to “now”

• Navigating the donor process

• The emotional reality of doing this without a partner

• What surprised her most about stepping into solo motherhood

This conversation isn’t dramatic. It’s grounded. Calm. Clear.

And that’s exactly what makes it powerful.

If you’ve ever felt stuck between waiting and moving forward, this episode will feel like someone gently holding up a mirror.

Solo Motherhood at 29, IVF in the USA & Raising a Donor-Conceived Child

Rhiannon didn’t spend years planning to become a solo mum. In fact, for most of her twenties she wasn’t even sure she wanted children at all.

Then one night she had a vivid dream about a baby girl named Beatrix — and the feeling never left. At 29, she decided to pursue motherhood on her own terms, travelling to the United States for IVF and gender selection. She became pregnant on her first embryo transfer and later welcomed her daughter Bunny during the COVID lockdowns.

In this episode, Rhiannon shares the surprising twists of her journey — from choosing treatment overseas, to navigating pregnancy during a global pandemic, to connecting with donor siblings across the world. She also reflects on the unexpected personal growth that came with becoming a parent, including receiving a later-in-life diagnosis of ADHD and autism.

Rhiannon’s story is funny, honest, and refreshingly real. It’s a reminder that motherhood doesn’t always arrive through the path we imagined — but sometimes the unexpected road leads exactly where we were meant to go.

Carly always knew motherhood was non-negotiable. Marriage? Optional. A partner? Nice, but not essential. But children? Absolutely.

After a serious car accident in 2020 forced her to stop and re-evaluate everything, Carly realised she couldn’t keep waiting for “someday.” What followed was a journey through public hospital waitlists, donor shortages, IUI disappointment, IVF pressure, and the emotional intensity of choosing a donor in a system where options are limited and timing is everything.

From IVF Loss to Solo Motherhood: Bec’s Honest Journey to Becoming Liam’s Mum

Season 5 begins with one of the most raw and honest conversations yet.

In this first episode of the new season, Alisha sits down with Bec, who never imagined becoming a solo mum — until fertility timelines, life circumstances, and a quiet realisation changed everything.

Bec shares how a routine fertility check planted the seed that ultimately led her toward donor conception, and the emotional process of choosing motherhood without waiting for the “right” partner.

But this story doesn’t stop at pregnancy success.

Bec opens up about:

• navigating IVF and miscarriage

• the emotional complexity of pregnancy after loss

• an unexpected early birth and emergency caesarean

• the realities of newborn life as a solo parent

• postnatal depression and the bond that took time to grow

• learning to ask for help — and why no one should do this alone

This episode is honest, grounding, and deeply reassuring for anyone wondering whether solo motherhood is possible — or what life actually looks like on the other side.

Season 5 begins with a reminder that there is no single way to become a mother — and no single way to feel once you arrive there.