Solo mothers seeking fertility treatment are ‘looking to Denmark’

More UK-based parents are choosing to establish a family on their own and high costs are leading many to receive fertility treatments abroad, it has been suggested.

42-year-old Harriet from the UK is one of the many British women who have taken matters into their own hands. In 2022, she sought out a Danish fertility clinic and after her second IUI-treatment, she was pregnant.

Harriet said:

“I have always had a burning desire to have children. Unfortunately, I have never met the right partner, and suddenly I was 40. So, I decided to do it myself. I looked at different fertility clinics in the UK, but because I’m single, I’m forced go through private fertility clinics. Private clinics are significantly more expensive compared to clinics in other European countries, where you can easily save thousands of pounds.”

Diers Klinik in Aarhus, Central Denmark offers IUI-treatments, and 80% of their clients come from countries other than Denmark. According to the Danish Health Authority, almost half of all women inseminated with donor sperm in Denmark are from countries other than Denmark.

Liza Diers, CEO and owner of Diers Klinik, said:

“We are seeing more and more solo mothers at our clinic, and many of them come from Britain, because they recognize that Denmark is way ahead when it comes to research and the way we treat solo mothers. We find that our donor system appeals to many, partly because there’s a wider variety of donor choice, partly because there’s a greater flexibility in choosing between an open or closed donor profile. Especially the donor options made Harriet’s choice of fertility clinic and country clear.”

Hariet found Diers Klinik in Denmark in 2020 and all of her expenses including the procedure, airplane ticket, and hotel for her and her mother cost “less than the procedure alone would cost in Britain”. She continued to say that Denmarks “biggest advantage is the wider variety of options for choosing an open door”.

“It means a lot to me that I can give my son the opportunity to contact the donor, when he gets older.”

Dr Sesh Sunkara, Senior Clinical Lecture in Reproductive Medicine at King’s College London, said:

“There are several factors that will likely influence future trends, such as the cost of living to be able to afford a single parent family, government policies such as affordable and flexible childcare, and enforcing family friendly policies at workplaces.”

Harriet said:

“I had to mentally adjust to not having the traditional nuclear family structure that I was hoping for. But the dream of a child was so burning for me that I had to follow it, and I’m sure I will find solutions to the logistic and economic challenges that come with being a solo mum.”