Category Archives: single women

Registration is Closed. SMC 40th Anniversary Celebration – Agenda

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SINGLE MOTHERS BY CHOICE (SMC) 40TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

OCT. 16-17, 2021

Images of moms and kids

Registration for this event is now closed. Pre-order a full video recording!

AGENDA

All attendees will receive a full recording of the event in case you miss any sessions or wish to watch both exciting sessions of the two-content tracks.
Download a PDF of the full Agenda here

Saturday October 16

1:00 – 1:15 PM Welcome

Jane Mattes, L.C.S.W, Founder of Single Mothers by Choice & her son, Eric Mattes

1:15 – 2:15 PM Adult SMC Children:What was it like growing up?

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Thinking about single motherhood? Already a single mother by choice? Join SMC and discuss this and more on our lively 24/7 private Forum and at local chapter meetings.

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How Long Should You Wait For “Mr. or Ms. Right”?

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Having a partner is no longer a pre-requisite for motherhood. Single women have many options to start families on their own, ranging from anonymous sperm donors to adoption. With the growing accessibility of such options, many women find that the hardest part of taking the leap is an emotional step — to stop holding out for “Mr. or Ms. Right” to come around the corner.

Grieving the dream of partnered bliss is an important process. It might take longer than expected. Many women find that this grieving process is not entirely complete before they decide to pursue single motherhood. Others eventually decide not to pursue single motherhood after all. The important thing is that they processed their feelings and came to terms with their priorities in life. They realized which trade offs they were, or were not, willing to make.

A woman might decide that above all else she wants

… Continue reading

Thinking about single motherhood? Already a single mother by choice? Join SMC and discuss this and more on our lively 24/7 private Forum and at local chapter meetings.

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A Racecar Driver?

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Go back with me to eight years ago. My boyfriend of a year-and-a-half and I had The Talk. I’d thought we were firmly on the same page about commitment and family. Problem was, there didn’t seem to be any movement toward that. I hadn’t even met his family. So I asked him about our future.

He looked panicked– not the reaction I was hoping for. He stalled for time, telling me, “can we talk about this later, baby? The game’s on.” Again, the banality of this scene made me want to kick myself. I couldn’t believe I had become this person.

As he kept one eye on the hockey, I told him that we were both 40, and I was ready for a real commitment and a baby. He adjusted his junk and half-turned to me, “Okay, I’m getting a handle on this,” he said. He told me that sure, … Continue reading

Thinking about single motherhood? Already a single mother by choice? Join SMC and discuss this and more on our lively 24/7 private Forum and at local chapter meetings.

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How We Came To Be

Four years ago this month I conceived my first child by a non-medicated, intrauterine insemination. I hadn’t been a Thinker for long. Or perhaps, I had been a Thinker my whole life. The certainty that I would never marry and have children was something that haunted my thoughts since I was in my early twenties. Until I separated the two life events, becoming a mother seemed all but hopeless. I thought about it only in terms of what would never be.

For over a decade, I mourned the loss of what came so easily to most women: a family. Once I gave myself permission to research the possibilities of single motherhood, things happened very quickly. Within a month I had read everything I could find on the topic. I began contacting adoption agencies. The official responses were consistently negative. A social worker at a domestic agency said to me, “No … Continue reading

Thinking about single motherhood? Already a single mother by choice? Join SMC and discuss this and more on our lively 24/7 private Forum and at local chapter meetings.

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Will You Never Date Again if you Have a Child on Your Own?

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Woman on tiptoes next to manWomen considering the path of single motherhood by choice often experience many fears. One fear is that they will never date again if they start a family without a partner. This fear is most commonly experienced by women who are romantically interested in men.

After all, societal narratives often steer men away from dating single mothers. What man would want to raise another man’s kid? If you listen to all the male “romance gurus” on YouTube who dish out advice (while seemingly never having had a meaningful relationship of their own), you could be forgiven for thinking that only an undesirable “simp” would date a single mom. A man so worthless — with so little self-esteem — that he would stoop to the level of considering his partner’s feelings and sacrificing a certain level of freedom, wild sex, and partying to be in a committed relationship. A man so pathetic … Continue reading

Thinking about single motherhood? Already a single mother by choice? Join SMC and discuss this and more on our lively 24/7 private Forum and at local chapter meetings.

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Some Pearls of Wisdom From A Neophyte Mom

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Here is what I’ve learned in the first six months of mothering:

1. There are a million toys out there to buy babies, but your kid will probably just want to play with the box it came in. Or with the toy you fished out of the garbage.

2. Your baby will like the dumbest book on the shelf, and you will be forced to read it every night. Do not even try to get her to like classics such as “Eloise” or “Amos and Boris.” She just wants the stupid one about finding her bellybutton.

3. She will always pee on the changing table if you roll the dice and leave her undiapered for 15 seconds.

4. Babysitters who have been doing this for a long time know way more than you do about raising your kid. They are pros. Pick their brains and hope they don’t charge you … Continue reading

Thinking about single motherhood? Already a single mother by choice? Join SMC and discuss this and more on our lively 24/7 private Forum and at local chapter meetings.

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Why Your Family Doesn’t Want You to Have a Baby on Your Own

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Becoming a single mother by choice goes against society’s script. When you announce that you are planning to start a family on your own, you might be disappointed by the response you receive.

Why don’t your friends and family want you to have a baby on your own? Can’t they see that having a child will be a wonderful and joyful addition to your life?

It’s a new concept to them

I still remember when I got my first tattoo as a teenager and my grandfather saw it. He was shocked, even horrified. In his generation a “good girl” would never dream of getting a tattoo. But you know what? He came around. He just needed a little time to adjust.

A similar pattern can occur when a woman tells members of previous generations that she is considering becoming a single mother by choice (SMC). SMCs are something that older … Continue reading

Thinking about single motherhood? Already a single mother by choice? Join SMC and discuss this and more on our lively 24/7 private Forum and at local chapter meetings.

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Lightbulb Moments On My Way to Motherhood.

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Taking the Single Mother by Choice (SMC) route has been an amazingly interesting journey so far (which is a little like saying we saw some snow this winter in the Northeast!).

There were a couple of moments that stand out in my memory in particularly sharp focus. One such occasion was a conversation with my therapist before I had even started trying to conceive and was still trying to chase the elusive child-with-partner dream. We were discussing the guy I was involved with who was not stepping up to the plate (in fact he had left the field all together but I wasn’t able to acknowledge that yet).  My therapist commented: “He may not be a sure bet but you are”,  and it fell into place that I was everything I was looking for in a partner – reliable, dependable, hard working, responsible, thoughtful, caring – and he was none … Continue reading

Thinking about single motherhood? Already a single mother by choice? Join SMC and discuss this and more on our lively 24/7 private Forum and at local chapter meetings.

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One Ticket There, Two Tickets Back

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So this is the story of how I went to Florida and came back with a baby.

As you might know, in every state, in adoption, a birthmother has the right to change her mind for a set period of time known as the “revocation period”.  In New York, for instance, a birthmother has 30 days after she signs the papers to decide she wants to parent. It’s fair, I think, because it’s not the kind of decision you want to find yourself regretting if you have decided to make an adoption plan for your kid.

In Florida, there is no revocation period, which means that after the birth mom signs the papers she cannot change her mind. That’s awesome for an adoptive parent, and why a lot of people try to adopt in Florida.

The one thing is that the birth-mom can’t sign the papers until 72 hours after … Continue reading

Thinking about single motherhood? Already a single mother by choice? Join SMC and discuss this and more on our lively 24/7 private Forum and at local chapter meetings.

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A Fine Whine

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Ugh, so, this is just unbearable. This waiting is terrible. How do any of us go through it?

I’ve been officially a waiting-to-adopt family for nine (or is it ten?) months. And before that, I did two-and-a-half years of infertility treatments. I woke up the other day and just thought to myself, “I just want to be a mom. So badly.”

I started this journey nearly four years ago. And I am still single and childless. I know, it sounds like I am being a total downer., I AM a total downer right now. Sorry, guys, really. But I just feel like it is NEVER going to happen for me.  My friend was waiting to adopt a dog and she is going to get it this weekend… so even that is happening. When is it going to be my day? I know I’m whining. Again, I am so sorry.

There … Continue reading

Thinking about single motherhood? Already a single mother by choice? Join SMC and discuss this and more on our lively 24/7 private Forum and at local chapter meetings.

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