The bioethics law of August 2, 2021 has opened PMA, medically assisted procreation, female couples and single women. A year later, requests are much higher than expected and waiting times are getting longer. HASn the first quarter of 2022, 53% of the first assisted reproduction requests came from single women and 47% from female couples.
Mélina is 36 years old, she is single, lives in Paris and followed a PMA course to embark on a solo baby project. As of September 29, the date of publication of the decree implementing the law, Mélina registered on the Cecos waiting lists, on Oocyte and Sperm Conservation Center, of the Tenon hospital in Paris.
Sure of herself, the young woman had already made a first attempt at PMA in Belgium, a year earlier.“I proposed here last year, I was 35, after going through an egg donation process. The trigger was my fertility results. They weren’t great and the gynecologists said to me, ‘If you want to do it now’.” Five months later, in February, Mélina gets her first appointment at Cecos at Tenon Hospital. A series of examinations will follow, appointments with a gynecologist, a psychologist and a visit to a notary.
“I had a desire for a child but not with the person I was with.”
Melina, 36 years oldat franceinfo
Becoming a single mother, for Mélina, is a carefully considered choice, independent of her romantic relationships. “I never projected myself into a family life in my relationships. At that time, I was in a relationship, I wanted to have children but not with the person I was with. I was able to talk about it and she didn’t take it badly that I started.” Its financial stability also played a role in this choice: “It reassures me. If I had not been well in my work, I would have postponed the steps.”
Mélina felt well surrounded by all her loved ones. “My father was very encouraging. I never felt held back even by the professionals, on the contrary.” And when asked if she had to deal with remarks about her pregnancy, “People I meet for the first time are always ‘What about daddy?’, which I find pretty crazy. I go on some dates alone, why ask me about someone who is not there ?”
If she doesn’t feel any particular pressure, Mélina mainly thinks of female couples and the difficulties they encounter.“I was really very lucky. I don’t think that a single woman who has a child is a taboo. It’s people of the same sex who still suffer a lot.”
Today, Mélina is three months pregnant, she left the course of PMA and enrolled in the maternity ward.