S4: E5 Single Parent Rights

In todays episode I speak to Ruth, a single mum who works in the charity sector. She has two young boys who she has raised solo since her eldest was six months old. Her first was conceived through marriage, and the second via donor conception.

Ruth has been writing about single parenting for over six years on her blog Ellamental Mama, trying to raise understanding of the realities faced by single parents - the good, bad and the ugly.

Her writing has been featured in The Guardian, The I Paper and The Metro, amongst others.

In 2020, Ruth set up the Single Parent Rights campaign to push for changes to UK law to address the ongoing discrimination of single parents after helping to lobby for the introduction of single parent support bubbles in the first UK lockdown.    

In todays episode we discuss: 

- The decision to have a second child using donor conception

- Talking to your children about their conception

- First hand experience of becoming a parent in a relationship and then becoming a parent outside of a relationship

- Why its not always better to have a partner

- Getting single parents included in the Equality Act

- Examples of discrimination against single parents

- How to get involved with Single Parent Rights

and much more!

You can see more of Ruth on Instagram on @ellamental_mama and @singleparentrights