Guides · Guide
Single mother by choice with a known donor in the UK
More women are choosing to become mothers on their own. Many would rather their child could know their donor, and some can't get NHS funding as a single patient. A known donor can be a good path, as long as you go in with your eyes open about the law.
Written for England · Updated November 2026
General information, not legal or medical advice. The law can change and your situation may be different. Before you decide anything, talk to a family law solicitor and consider a licensed fertility clinic.
The one legal point to understand
If you are single and conceive through home insemination, the known donor is usually your child's legal father. The HFEA says this gives him rights over, and responsibilities for, your child. That cuts both ways:
- He could later apply to court about contact or parental responsibility.
- He can be asked to pay child maintenance through the Child Maintenance Service, and a private agreement can't rule that out (Child Support Act 1991, s.9(4)).
- Your child may have inheritance rights from him.
At an HFEA-licensed clinic, a donor who gives the clinic's donor consent is not the legal father (HFE Act 2008, s.41). You can take a known donor to a clinic. For a solo mum, that is the clearest way to be your child's only legal parent.
Donor, or co-parent?
Be honest with yourself about the role you want him to have. Some solo mums want a donor who stays in the background, some want occasional contact, some want a co-parent. All are valid, but they lead to very different arrangements, and at home the law may not match what you agreed. Write your expectations down together and take advice.
Practical steps
- Check what NHS funding you could get where you live, and what clinics charge with a known donor.
- Talk to a family law solicitor before you try, not after.
- Ask for recent sexual health and genetic test results.
- Think about support: who will be there for you in pregnancy and after?
- Read Known sperm donors and UK law and Finding a known sperm donor in the UK.
The Donor Conception Network has a community of solo mums by choice, and BICA lists fertility counsellors.
No sex, no ‘natural insemination’
This is a place for donation without sex: home insemination with a cup and syringe, treatment at a licensed clinic, or co-parenting. Asking for or offering sex or ‘natural insemination’ (NI), or sending sexual messages, is not allowed. We suspend profiles that do this. Received a request like that? Please report it from the profile.
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Join freeGeneral information about the law in England, November 2026. Not legal, medical or financial advice. KnownDonor is an introduction platform: we never collect, store, test, transport or deliver sperm, and we are not licensed by the HFEA. Sources are linked in the text; where they and this page differ, the source is right.