More and more single British women and lesbians are embarking upon motherhood without a father, according to the latest IVF statistics. Since 2000, the number of single women rose from 215 to 536 and the number of lesbians from 36 to 156.

Dr Gillian Lockwood, chairman of the British Fertility Society ethics committee, comments: "Many are suddenly realising that this commitment-phobic man they are living with, who says he wants children ‘at some point’, cannot hear their biological clocks ticking. These are wonderful, educated, professional women who are making a definite choice about motherhood."

The Blair government intends to scrap a provision in the law governing fertility treatment which stipulates that a father must be involved in the birth of IVF children. In any case, this is often just a formality, and many clinics are quietly ignoring it.

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Michael Cook

Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.

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