A woman who branded single women who have babies with sperm donors ‘selfish’ has provoked a furious debate, after arguing that ‘parenting is a shared enterprise’, during an appearance on This Morning.
Writer Hilary Freeman, from London, appeared on the show alongside Genevieve Roberts, who used a sperm donor to have her first baby, to discuss whether single women should go it alone.
Hilary argued that ‘parenting is a shared enterprise’ and that the ideal circumstance for all children was to have two parents.
But viewers were unimpressed by her views, and criticised her online for her ‘archaic opinions about single parenthood.
Genevieve Roberts and Hilary Freeman appeared on This Morning to debate whether choosing to have a child alone was selfish
She revealed her opinions on This Morning to hosts, John Barrowman and Rochelle Humes.
Hilary said that she admires single parents, but doesn’t think it’s a path people should ‘choose’ to go down voluntarily.
‘Lots of people are single mothers through circumstance, and they do fantastically and that’s great,’ she said.
‘But choosing to have a child on your own, you’re denying your child a father. You’re denying your child that relationship.
Many viewers took issue with the guest’s point of view, and said that families came in all shapes and sizes
‘Parenting is a shared enterprise and it’s better if you can to do that as a couple.’
Rochelle took issue with that and defended lone parenting, saying: ‘My mum raised us alone. A lot of people are in those circumstances. Does it really matter?
‘If you want to make the decision to raise a child, lots of people get stuck in anyway now.’
‘But do they?’ Hilary questioned.’People are lonelier than ever, people live far away from families now.’
Hilary went on: ‘If there are two sets of parents, you’ve got two sets of grandparents, friends, uncles and aunts and cousins.’
John Barrowman and Rochelle Humes were critical of Hilary’s more traditional viewpoint, with Rochelle pointing out she’d been raised by a single mother
‘Well hopefully,’ Rochelle responded, shrugging her shoulders.
Hillary responded: ‘But if you only have one parent that’s halved already.’
Whereas author Genevieve Roberts, who used a sperm donor to have a child, said ‘love and support are the most important things for a child.’
Calling it ‘a fortunate situation’ to have a long term partner to have a child with, Rochelle asked why it wasn’t acceptable for single women to use a sperm donor.
Hilary was clear that she thought single mothers did a ‘fantastic’ job, but questioned whether it was appropriate to make a choice for a child not to have a father
Hilary went on to say: ‘If there’s no other way to have a child, then I can understand it. But it should be a last resort. I can see lots of disadvantages to doing it.’
Revealing why she wouldn’t consider the option of having a sperm donor herself, she said: ‘I always wanted to have a family and not just a child. I’m being pragmatic, not moralistic.’
Viewers slammed her viewpoint though, and questioned her ‘archaic’ views.
‘This woman’s views on single parents are from the arc,’ one wrote.
Meanwhile, Genevieve Roberts said she thought the most important thing was for children to be surronded by love and support
Viewers criticized Hilary’s viewpoint as archaic, and pointed out that often the traditional family structure didn’t work
Another agreed, retweeting her and posting: ‘She’s an absolute…’
‘You know it’s possible for a child to have a mother and a father and both parents are incompetent c****,’ another pointed out.
But others could see her point of view, and tweeted their thoughts in support of the guest.
‘Not a problem as far as I’m concerned, but my only worry would be that what happens when the lady with the daughter wants to find out about her father,’ one viewer pointed out.
Another commented:’Over complicating something that’s quite simple.’
Some viewers were supportive of the guest, and could see how the complicattions of using a sperm donor as a single woman would be difficult