A wannabe mum threw a ‘who’s the daddy?’ party so her friends and family could help her pick a sperm donor.
Single Lola Jimenez, 33, organised egg-shaped cookies and games such as ‘pin the sperm on the uterus’ and IVF bingo for the bash.
The law student then asked guests to choose their favourite donor from an American sperm bank database of men with blond hair and blue eyes.
Lola, who selected her donor in August 2020, has always been desperate to have kids so when her long-term relationship broke down in November 2019, she decided to go it alone.
Lola, whose baby boy is now due in September, said: “I’ve always been very broody.
“My ultimate goal in life since I was little has been to get married and have a traditional family. However, it hasn’t worked out that way.
“When I broke up with the man I thought I would have children with, I was 31.
“I’d always said if I was single at 35, I’d become a solo mum so I brought it forward as looking for someone else felt like a waste of time.
“Throwing the sperm party was a way to get all the important women in my life involved in the journey.
“I put up photos of me as a baby and asked them to select a donor with blond hair and blue eyes, as I wanted my baby to look like me.
“It was such a giggle and there were lots of bubbles as it was the last time I could drink before starting IVF.”
Lola, from South West London, had the treatment privately because she didn’t qualify for IVF on the NHS as she was single. Her doctor also refused to help unless she had a partner.
She said: “My GP said they wouldn’t assess my fertility unless I was trying for a baby so I said I was in a relationship and we’d been trying for 12 months.
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“But he then said they’d need to do tests on his sperm so I ended up calling my friends to see if anyone would lend me some semen!
“Then Covid hit in March 2020, and it became very complicated.”
Lola had her first round of IVF in November 2020 at The Lister Fertility Clinic in London.
And because she was happy to donate her eggs, the treatment – which would have otherwise cost her £8,000 – was free.
Lola said: “We had chosen a donor but I was on the waiting list for ages so I ended up picking another donor because they had found a woman to take my eggs and things started moving very quickly.
"I decided I wanted to pick someone who looked like my family, not just me so that my baby would look like me, as I’m the only one with blonde hair and blue eyes. So I searched and found a guy who looked like my dad in his 20s - it was fate."
Lola discovered she was pregnant in December and did two tests a day until her first scan in mid-January.
The mum-to-be was also thrilled to learn the woman who chose her eggs was pregnant, too.
She said: “Not only were my own dreams of becoming a mum coming true, but I had helped someone else’s dreams come true, too. I felt really proud to have been able to do that.
“I used to fill my life with going to parties, nice dinners, buying fancy shoes and nice clothes that I couldn’t afford and getting into debt but now, that’s all meaningless.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been truly happy until I got pregnant.”
Lola doesn’t listen to the critics who say a baby needs a mother and a father – and she doesn’t believe her son will miss out on having a male role model.
She said: “My dad is an incredible man who I’m very close to so my son definitely won’t be missing a family.
“When it comes to telling him about his dad, I’ll be honest with him.
“Similar to how adopted children are told they have tummy mummies, I’ll tell my son he has a seed daddy.
"Tradition is changing – it’s no longer always a mum and a dad in a family. I’ve got a huge support network, and lots of people who care for me.
“I feel like I’m finally getting the family I’ve been waiting for.”
Lola is also very open about potentially meeting someone new, and for her son to have a father figure as he grows up.
“I might be parenting solo but I definitely don’t want to be celibate,” she said. “I want the relationship!”
■ Follow Lola’s journey to solo parenthood on Instagram @Make_Me_A_Mummy
