A woman has hit back at critics calling her selfish for becoming a single mum at just 26 with the help of a sperm donor, claiming she has is supported and her baby is "incredibly loved".
New mum Rebecca Bell always longed to start a family, but after breaking up with her boyfriend in July 2020, she feared her dream may never come true.
The 26-year-old, from the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, had been diagnosed with endometriosis – a debilitating condition that causes uterine tissue to grow outside the uterus – at just 16.
At the time, doctors had warned this could make becoming a mum almost impossible.
Adding to this concern, fertility tests revealed her egg reserve was extremely low for her age. The combination of these two factors prompted Rebecca to make the drastic decision to undergo IVF, with the help of a sperm donor back in August 2020.
And after seven emotional months of appointments, injections, and heartache, she was over the moon after discovering she was pregnant in March 2021 - with the mum welcoming her little bundle of joy Noah in November last year.
The retail worker described “mum life” as being “amazing”.
“I do everything myself and have a routine, it’s tiring but great and I wouldn’t change it for the world,” she said.
“I have absolutely no regrets, I would do it again in a heartbeat.
“Noah is everything I ever dreamed of and he makes my life complete. Some days are easier than others, but I have eased into mum life quite smoothly.
"I’ve had people tell me I’m selfish because i've brought a child into the world without a father. But I have so much support around me from family and friends, this little guy is so incredibly loved.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’d love a partner and hope to find someone in the future. But I’m very independent, so being a single mum wasn’t something that scared me."
Rebecca's journey to motherhood was paved with difficulties and heartache, with the mum having been devastated by the news that she may never have been able to get pregnant.
She said: “I’d always wanted to be a mum and always dreamed of having a family. But after being diagnosed with endometriosis as a teenager, I knew it might be a struggle to fall pregnant naturally.
“In 2020, my ex-boyfriend and I broke up. It was hard, because I’d already started thinking about our future and the possibility of having kids.
“When that was no longer an option, I decided to check my fertility just to make sure it would still be possible in the future.
“It came back that my egg count was abnormally low for a woman my age. I was deemed infertile by a specialist and was told there was no way I could naturally fall pregnant.
“This was heartbreaking, after the appointment I just hopped back into my car and cried my eyes out. The fertility specialist said my first option was to have my eggs retrieved and frozen, which would mean I could wait until I’d found a partner.
“But this could severely compromise the quality of the eggs and there was a chance they could not be used in the future.
“My other option was to start the process of IVF straight away with the help of a sperm donor. After a lot of thought, I knew this was my best chance to become a mother.”
With her window of opportunity to have a baby getting smaller, Rebecca knew time was of the essence.
And with her dream of starting a family close to her heart, she decided to become a single mum with the help of a sperm donor.
She said: “I talked to my family and friends about it. I had some people tell me that I should wait until I find a partner and that being a single mum would be too hard.
“But I knew that could take another five or even ten years to get to that point, and I only had very little time left. So, I decided to go ahead and become a single mum with the help of a sperm donor.
“There were 32 donors to pick from and we got it down to 11. From there we got it down again to three donors, and finally to the one.
“I started in February 2021 and ended up with four eggs. Sadly, one died on the first day, so we had three that turned into embryos.
“Another one died, so then I only had two left. Then an hour before my transfer, I was told one of my embryos had died.
"I only had one left but luckily it was doing very well.”
Rebecca said all her hopes were wrapped up in her last embryo and was prepared for the possibility that it might not work.
Thankfully, the transfer was a success and a blood test confirmed she was pregnant two weeks later.
And in November 2021, her son Noah was born after 31 hours of labour, weighing 7lbs.
“If any woman is thinking about having a child through sperm donation, I would say do it. We don’t need a man to help raise children or be a certain age," she added.
"Noah is such a cheeky baby, he is very clever and just like his mummy.
“I’m so happy with my choice and love my son more than anything.”
