Single women have taken over the fertility clinics in Norway – NRK Trøndelag
– For me, it was never the plan to do it alone.
Anne Lie-Hetland sits at the kitchen table in her apartment in Trondheim. I started in 2020 had not started to change for Anne.
– I am approaching 38, which is a magical age when it comes to fertility, at least in the healthcare system.
In the bedroom next to her lies her daughter, who is now one year old. She is the result of a new Norwegian law and a virus that shut down society.
Living room unit
– I didn’t get to meet the man in my life and have a child until I was 40, as long as there was a pandemic and I wasn’t allowed to be around other people, says Anne.
A few months after Norwegians were told to stay at home, keep their distance and wash their hands, the Biotechnology Act is being discussed in the Storting.
The isolation had made Anne think. Previously, she had rejected friends who had suggested donor treatment in Denmark as a way to have a child. But now she had gone to a private clinic to have a fertility check.
Anne was ready when the debate in the Storting started.
– Then I sat in my home office and watched the live broadcast from the Storting. I cried for joy when the law passed.
For Anne, love changes were a confirmation.
– I would probably have gone to Denmark if it hadn’t been allowed here. But it was something about feeling that «well I’m not doing anything illegal. Now I am accepted, now my child will be accepted.” The living room becomes clean in a completely different way.
The clock is ticking
The timing of the law and the pandemic was a potent mix. Suddenly it was no longer so easy to travel to Denmark.
On public St. Olav’s hospital in Trondheim, where it is relatively cheap to get help, single women make up 60 percent of those who have received that treatment.
– If I have to generalize something violently, it would be ladies who have passed 30 by a little or a lot who know very well that the clock is ticking loudly and do not have a partner in sight with whom they can have a child, says senior doctor Camilla Kleveland.
At Rikshospitalet in Oslo, they have not secured a high on this group. But single women make up around a third of those who are referred to you for sperm donation.
– We probably get a number now who would have traveled to Denmark in the past, but we also get a number who would not have traveled abroad – but want treatment in Norway, for various reasons, says Kleveland.
At several private clinics, a single woman makes up between half and 70 percent of those receiving treatment with donor sperm. At Medicus, heterosexual and lesbian couples account for five and 25 percent of the treatment, respectively.
Medicus, they have hired extra people. And now they are expanding the laboratories in both Oslo and Stavanger. This is necessary to get rid of all the new patients who have arrived in recent years.
Medical director Terje Sørdal is surprised by the development.
– We knew it was someone, but I was not aware that it was such a big hit on single girls who wanted to have a child.
Everyday life
In July 2020, Anne Lie-Hetland was among the first to receive treatment in Norway.
Now her daughter has started kindergarten. And Anne has had her first day back at work after over a year with permission and time off. Going forward, both must get used to a new everyday life.
– I have gained a completely new perspective on becoming a voluntary single mother. I think it’s a cool thing. Not a plan B solution for those that no one wants.