A growing number of women over 40 are choosing to become single mothers, a trend that raises serious questions about personal responsibility, cultural priorities, and the long-term well-being of children.
According to RedState, a recent report indicates that the share of unmarried women over 40 who decide to pursue motherhood on their own has doubled since 2007. While the overall percentage remains relatively small, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that in 2024 more than 1 percent of all babies in the United States were born to unmarried women aged 40 or older, and that figure is projected to climb in the coming years.
From a conservative standpoint, this is not a sign of social progress but a deeply troubling development for both mother and child. Setting aside the already alarming reality that roughly 40 percent of American babies are now born to unwed mothers prompting the obvious question, what are we doing here, society? the decision by aging women to embark on motherhood alone introduces serious health, emotional, and social risks that ripple far beyond the individual household.
At its core, this choice reflects a kind of self-centeredness that modern culture is increasingly reluctant to name. Let's just start with this: it's selfish. The critique is not aimed at women who adopt, foster, or unexpectedly find themselves raising children alone due to circumstances beyond their control; such women often shoulder heavy burdens and deserve support and respect.
The concern is directed at women who, after failing to prioritize forming a stable family with a committed husband, turn to artificial means gets the old turkey baster treatment because she won't be denied becoming a mother as if motherhood were an individual lifestyle accessory rather than a vocation ordered toward the needs of a child. Ironically, this phenomenon underscores a truth conservatives have emphasized for years: Which, of course, proves what conservatives have been saying for years it's natural and desirable for women to want to be mothers.
The problem is not the maternal instinct itself but the insistence on fulfilling it in isolation, without a father in the picture. It's far less desirable for women to go it alone because it's the children who suffer. The reality is straightforward and unfashionable: Children need fathers. It's that simple. A mothers longing to have a baby does not erase the childs right to be raised, whenever possible, by both parents in a stable home.
Many single mothers work heroically to raise their children well, often under difficult circumstances, and their efforts should not be dismissed. Yet a mother can never be a father because fathers provide something distinct, offering a stabilizing presence, a source of authority and protection, and, in practical terms, another adult to share the heavy load of parenting and household responsibilities.
Beyond the social and emotional dimensions, there are serious biological concerns when women delay motherhood into their 40s and then pursue pregnancy without a partner. Then there's the fact that the older mother is disadvantaging their offspring from the get-go by getting pregnant at an advanced maternal age. Medical data are clear that older mothers face higher rates of complications, including gestational diabetes, hypertensive disorders, Cesarean delivery, and even stillbirth.
The cultural illusion that a fit appearance can override biology is particularly dangerous. Looking good in your LuluLemon yoga pants doesn't mean your inside stuff isn't feeling its age, and it's a fairy tale to believe otherwise. No amount of lifestyle branding or social-media affirmation can erase the hard limits imposed by nature on fertility, pregnancy, and childbirth.
Economic realities further compound the problem, especially in a time of high costs and fragile household budgets. Economically, households headed by single mothers do not tend to fare well at all. Raising children is expensive, and even families with two incomes often find themselves stretched thin by housing, childcare, healthcare, and education expenses.
In a one-income home, every disruption becomes a potential crisis. In one-income homes, the financial vulnerability is amplified: if you get sick, lose a job, face a childcare disruption, or encounter housing issues, there is no second income to steady the family and soften the blow. The result is a precarious existence in which children are the ones who pay the highest price for adult choices.
The data on poverty underscore this vulnerability with stark clarity. The numbers don't lie. A Congressional Research Service summary of Census-based poverty data shows that female-headed households with no spouse present have far higher poverty rates than married-couple families (about 21.8% vs. 4.3% in 2024). This is not a matter of ideology but of measurable outcomes, and this is just the reality of the situation, and it's the children who bear the costs when adults don't prioritize stability.
All of this points to a broader cultural failure rooted in the false promises of modern feminism. And that leads to the larger issue: the failure of modern feminism and it's promise that women can have it all. What a load of crock. For decades, women were told they could postpone family indefinitely, that career must always come first, and that marriage was optional while men were interchangeable, with little mention of the tradeoffs or the ticking clock of fertility.
The movement told women they could delay having a family indefinitely with no tradeoffs, that their career should always come first it's the only life affirmation you'll ever need! and that marriage is optional and men interchangeable also failed to tell them about reality. That reality is unforgiving: You get old. Men don't want to have kids with old women. Parenthood is expensive. Kids aren't accessories, but they are time consuming. Your wants are second to their needs.
A conservative outlook does not demand flawless families or condemn those who face hardship and brokenness. A conservative perspective doesn't demand perfection of mothers and fathers, nor does it mock those who have to make difficult choices. It simply insists we stop lying to ourselves. Children deserve the strongest foundation society can offer, and children deserve the best odds we can give them.
Those odds are overwhelmingly found in what earlier generations recognized instinctively: Those odds are most often found in what previous generations understood by instinct and experience: a mother and father committed to each other, raising a child together with the support that marriage uniquely provides. The wisdom is simple, time-tested, and increasingly countercultural: And do it young. Trust me on this one.
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