I Adopted Embryos as a Single Mom After Years of Waiting & Gave Birth to My First Baby at 50

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There are no guarantees in life, and things don’t always work out the way we plan them in our heads. Every mom’s journey to motherhood takes a different path, and some are simpler than others. Although it may take one couple a single night to conceive a baby, others may have agonizing infertility struggles that seem never-ending. Some may even want to pursue parenthood without a partner but think it may never happen for them. Kia Glover was one of those moms, but her story isn’t sad. Instead, her story is incredibly hopeful.

Glover told the US Sun she always wanted to be a mom, but as she got older, she worried it might not happen.

“I had a few serious relationships, but in 2012, 39 and single, that confidence was wavering,” she explained. “Aged 40, I tried freezing my eggs. It was then that I discovered I had a diminished ovarian reserve, which was devastating.”

She continued to search for love but did not find what she was looking for in a man. She said that at 45, she decided to adopt as a single parent. She matched with a 16-year-old girl who agreed to give her baby up at birth but then changed her mind.

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“At first, I waited, hoping another woman would pick me, but then Covid hit. In November 2022, as I was starting to consider IVF, I read about embryo donation, which is when a woman or couple donate their leftover embryos from their own IVF treatment,” Glover recalled to the Sun.

In 2023, she adopted two male embryos. Although she felt that some would criticize her, Glover didn’t care. “I didn’t believe that trying for a baby at 49 was selfish, though. I was healthy and energetic, with grandparents who’d lived into their 90s. I was also more responsible and solvent than when I was younger and could plan for the baby’s financial future.”

Nine days post-transfer, she took a pregnancy test and discovered she was expecting. She gave birth to her son, Samuel, at 37 weeks of gestation in November 2023 at age 50.

She felt assured in her decision the moment she held her baby boy. “Holding Samuel for the first time, tiny at 5lb 11oz, I was overwhelmed with love. New motherhood was an emotional, exhausting whirlwind, but I didn’t miss my old life. I’d had my party years, and being with Samuel was the only place I wanted to be,” she said, per the Sun.

Glover said no one ever confuses her for Samuel’s grandmother, and even though her age surprises some people, she doesn’t care. When her son grows, she plans to tell him about his conception, but for now, she’s just enjoying life as a mom.

“When I think about him going to university, getting married, and having kids, I do worry I might miss those moments. But over the past 12 years, I found a strength I didn’t know I had,” she said.