This is the longest shortest time from WNYC, I'm Hillary Frank.

A couple episodes ago, I talked to my producer Joanna about her ambivalence over whether

or not to become a parent.

Her story resonated with a lot of you, and I've been loving all of the emails and comments

we've been getting about the many ways that people start families, and how the realization

that you want to have a kid can just sneak up on you at the most unexpected times.

Today we have a story about a woman who has always known that she wanted to be a mom,

but the way she figured out she was ready to actually go for it came as a complete surprise.

My name is Elizabeth, my child's name is Sean, and he's almost 18 months.

Elizabeth is a single mom, single by choice.

Typically called a single mother by choice, so basically being a parent alone and you know

that you don't necessarily ever have help.

You know, it's just going to be you and the kid and there's not.

There's not an ex-husband, there's not an ex-partner, an ex-boyfriend who's going to help

out even like an hour a week.

It's just you and the child.

Becoming a single mother by choice, as you can imagine, is not easy.

You've got to figure out where you're going to get your sperm or where to adopt, how to

pay for it.

Generally, these moms are career women, and their late 30s or early 40s.

There's actually a group founded in 1981 called Single Mothers by Choice, they call themselves

SMCs.

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