206 - Paula's story: single mothering by choice, as a paraplegic

Paula Booth was very much in love with an amazing man when after almost 8 years together he decided that he didn't want to have kids after all. Paula wasn't sure if she could have children of her own after an accident in 2011 left her with a spinal cord injury which had resulted in her becoming a paraplegic. Nonetheless, she was left with a decision - stay with her partner and forego the chance to try having a child or leave her partner and follow her dream of becoming a mum. Paula chose the latter.  

After a brief stint of online dating, Paula decided it wasn't the path she wanted to take and spoke to her GP about becoming a single mother by choice. The GP advised her that she was not suitable for a referral to a fertility clinic because she didn't think she was capable of being a mother, let alone a single mother. How would she teach her child to climb a tree?

She decided to go about it privately and found a site where people who wanted to be donors or co-parent advertise. After a few false matches, she found a donor who was (and still is) in a relationship with a woman who didn't want children and this was their compromise.

After 7 months of trying to conceive, it was successful, and Paula now has a beautiful baby boy, who was 12 weeks old at the time of recording. 

In this episode, Paula shares:

• how incredibly supportive her family has been,
• the process of using donor sperm through a private arrangement,
• pregnancy during COVID-19,
• how she managed pregnancy and childbirth with her disability,
• how she has adapted and found ways of parenting from a wheelchair,
• the relationship that her son has and will continue to have with the father,
• and so much more.

Paula is a true inspiration to anyone, and especially to other disabled women to know that they don't have to give up their dreams of being a mum.

Links mentioned in the episode:

To contact Julia, email: [email protected].

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