I never dreamed I'd one day raise a child alone, but it is everything I'd hoped after I had IVF as a single 38-year-old

I never dreamed I'd one day raise a child alone, but it is everything I'd hoped after I had IVF as a single 38-year-old By Tracey Bravo Published: 11:47 BST, 26 August 2024 | Updated: 11:47 BST, 26 August 2024 e-mail 1 View comments On a recent holiday in the Canaries, I perched on the edge of the hotel pool utterly mesmerised by my eight-year-old son, Isaac. As he splashed around, I was thrilled to reflect that he shares my smile and face shape. I can only assume that his beautiful brown skin, dark eyes and hair come from his donor.

I’m careful never to use the words ‘father’ or ‘daddy’, for Isaac is the much-wanted child I had through IVF when I was 39 and single. But while I’ll almost certainly never meet my child’s donor, I feel so grateful to him. If the decision was mine, I would jump at the chance to give him a hug and thank him.

Tracey Bravo with her son Isaac, who was conceived via solo IVF Since he donated anonymously, I don’t even know his name or age, only that he’s a head of operations in the corporate world, with a love of tennis, cycling and skiing. I chose him based on those attributes from a shortlist of around 40 sperm donors at the London clinic where I had IVF in November 2015. I never dreamed I’d one day raise a child alone.

And while Isaac is everything I hoped for and more, I admit that, at first, I felt unexpectedly ashamed to have chosen the life of a single mum, as though I’d failed because I didn’t have a partner. I started I.