This figure represents a jump of 35% in the space of two years. Commenting on the latest figures, Professor Geeta Nargund, medical director of Create Fertility, a private IVF specialist, said: “More and more women are opting to start a family as single women either because they have not found a suitable partner or their partner is not ready to start a family. They are conscious that their biological clock is ticking and they do not want to lose out on genetic motherhood. There are also some women who are supported by their parents financially and emotionally to go it alone when they do not have a partner.”