Meet the ‘solo mums’ who would stop at nothing to have a baby

In her 20s, Jemma Harris was rather reckless with money. She’d think nothing, for example, of putting holidays on credit cards and would spend up to £150 a pop on going out after work. In those days, she says, she was borrowing money “left, right and centre”.

Harris, now 43, has in many ways matured in her approach to her finances – she saved during lockdown and built up a substantial buffer of around £10,000. In other ways, though, Harris hasn’t changed at all.

In fact, the devil-may-care attitude to spending that carried her through her young adult life – to risk debt in pursuit of something she desperately wanted – has stayed with her.

Nearly two years ago, she made the biggest financial decision of her life: to have a child by herself.

Harris decided to become a single parent