MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Ohio — Census statistics continue to show most kids in America are being raised by both parents, but new numbers show, single motherhood is on the rise.

Amanda Morrison is a single mom of two, but how she got to motherhood took more than a decade of loss. 


What You Need To Know

  • Amanda Morrison became a single parent after more than a decade of trying to get pregnant

  • Morrison used donor sperm and lost babies before the treatment worked

  • She now is raising two kids on her own, homeschooling and showing them how to run a business

“I tried for 14 years to get pregnant, was told that I would never have kids at the age of 16 because I have Polycystic Ovarian Disease,” said Morrison. 

When she finally got pregnant, not all of her babies survived. 

“My first pregnancy, I miscarried twins, my second pregnancy, my triplets lived for 45 minutes before passing at 20 weeks(pregnant),” said Morrison. 

The babies she lost are tattooed on her arm, but she kept trying something different. 

“I decided that since I wasn’t married or anything else, that I was going to go through IUI (intrauterine insemination) and use donor sperm to get pregnant,” said Morrisson. 

She made it fully through two pregnancies, kids who are now toddlers, and she is raising and teaching them on her own.

She chose to be a single parent. 

“There’s a lot of drama in a lot of relationships now and especially growing up, my sister has been married a couple times and got divorced and watched all that and I just, I didn’t want that,” said Morrison.

In an era where, according to the U.S. Census, single motherhood is rising in America, she said she thought the lifestyle would be simple.

“I swore up and down I was gonna be that TV mom, up early cooking breakfast, kids are all at the table eating, kids are well mannered,” said Morrison.

She said she soon realized it’s not exactly what she thought.

“I feel like I have to work extra hard to compensate for being a single mom, there is no second income paying the house note, there is no second income paying the car bill, there is no second income helping buy diapers or food,” said Morrison.

She’s already having those difficult conversations with her kids. 

“We’ve sat her down, we’ve explained to her that mommy wanted her so much that mommy chose to have her without a daddy and if it’s meant to be for her to have a daddy, one that comes into our lives,” said Morrison.

Morrison said she wouldn’t trade being a single mother because she believes being independent is setting the example for her kids if they become parents too. 

“As long as they’re happy, healthy, and not disrespectful or anything like that, then I’ve done a good job as a mom,” said Morrison.