One woman's decision to have a baby solo

"I always imagined that I would have a partner at the age of 39 and be starting my own family with that partner," said Jennifer Fox.

Jennifer has always wanted to be a mom, but the partner part of her equation wasn't panning out. 

So, she decided to have a baby on her own. But it wasn't an easy decision for her to make.

"You kind of feel like a failure when that's what society expects of us or...at least me growing up in the 80s, we were all as girls taught, you know, go to school, go to university, get a great job, meet a husband, have 2.5 kids, a white picket fence, and all will be happy."

Jennifer says that once she was able to let go of the traditional family she imagined for so long, she embraced the idea of being a single mom.

But, she still had to jump over a few more hurdles, including getting pregnant and the financial stress that can come with doing it alone.

Jennifer says she was willing to give up her entire life savings to pay for fertility treatments. 

"I had saved quite a bit of money over the last couple of decades..quite a bit for retirement and quite a bit for a down payment on a house…At the end of it I realized a house isn't as important to me as a baby."

In order to afford raising a child on her own, Jennifer also left behind her job and her network. She picked up her life and moved from Vancouver to Halifax. 

"Moving all the way across the country was not an easy decision to make...And people thought that I was crazy."

Jennifer is now 24 weeks pregnant and couldn't be happier.

She reached out to Out in the Open to share her story. She says she did it because she wants women like her, who decide to have a child on their own, to not feel so alone in their choice.