Status: Single, Married, Divorced, Widowed
These are the only choices.

Single = Never married

Married = legally married

Divorced = no longer legally married

Widowed = once married, but spouse died

So, single mom = never married Mom whose child is either adopted or out-of-wedlock.

*source

Anonymous wrote:You are only a single mom if the other parent is not involved or dead.

My ex, who was very involved with our kids, died recently. As a result I am now a single mom. I feel a huge difference now that I am 100% on my own with them. Such a significant loss.

Honestly, I was more well rested as a divorced mom than I was when we were married. When we were married the kids were in my presence 24/7 and I did way more for the family on a consistent basis. Once we split he was forced to do his share because I was not around to pick up the slack.

I disagree. I think being single/divorced and a mom means just that.

My ex has our child 2 nights a week. The other 5 nights are all on me. He does not financially contribute either. We've also lived in different countries where DC did not see dad regularly. I was able to afford a sitter and housekeeper and it honestly didn't feel any different than now. Some single moms have zero help from any sourse, while others have plenty. The same can be said for married women too though.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a former single Mom that is now a military spouse that is deployed. So sure I'm married but my life, other than more money, is pretty much exactly the same.

Money makes a big difference, don't you think?

Well I make a lot of money, so I was not scraping by before I was married. Exactly to the other PP. When a crisis happens, it's all on me. When work is stressful, all me. O do get to talk to my husband, but no different than like family out of town. Not the same as getting a hug or having a back up. There is no back up, you're alone.

I guess to me being the spouse of someone deployed brings a whole bunch of challenges that other single moms don't face (possibly living in a place you haven't been for long because the military moves people so often, missing them, being afraid for them, dealing with children missing them, major changes in routine), and also has some supports that single moms don't have (the community of other military spouses, the second income, but more than that the security that it's not all resting on your job). It seems like it would have a lot in common with being a single mom, but not exactly the same.

But, I guess I don't understand what the spouse of someone who is deployed would get out of calling themselves a single mom that they wouldn't get out of simply saying "My husband/wife is deployed"?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter's (partial) genetic contributor has literally never met her, and could not pick her out of a lineup of 15 year old girls. He does not know her name. He is not on the birth certificate. I am a single parent.

Why do women do this? It is especially bad for girls. She will marry any man by 21 and have 4 kids by 30 to create the family she never had.

Maybe she didn't want to abort an unplanned pregnancy? Can't fault her for that.

Why do men do this? Why do they leave their sperm in places where babies grow, condemning the offspring to a lifetime of difficulty?

NP. I am more intrigued by "(partial) genetic contributor." Could me the child was conceived through assisted conception with anonymous or known sperm fpdonir, through rape, or through consensual sex. If the first, not sure if the poster would have gone to the trouble of conceiving and then consider aborting.

why donate to sperm banks that serve single women? Why add to the world's problems that way?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a former single Mom that is now a military spouse that is deployed. So sure I'm married but my life, other than more money, is pretty much exactly the same.

Money makes a big difference, don't you think?

Well I make a lot of money, so I was not scraping by before I was married. Exactly to the other PP. When a crisis happens, it's all on me. When work is stressful, all me. O do get to talk to my husband, but no different than like family out of town. Not the same as getting a hug or having a back up. There is no back up, you're alone.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter's (partial) genetic contributor has literally never met her, and could not pick her out of a lineup of 15 year old girls. He does not know her name. He is not on the birth certificate. I am a single parent.

Why do women do this? It is especially bad for girls. She will marry any man by 21 and have 4 kids by 30 to create the family she never had.

Maybe she didn't want to abort an unplanned pregnancy? Can't fault her for that.

Why do men do this? Why do they leave their sperm in places where babies grow, condemning the offspring to a lifetime of difficulty?

NP. I am more intrigued by "(partial) genetic contributor." Could me the child was conceived through assisted conception with anonymous or known sperm fpdonir, through rape, or through consensual sex. If the first, not sure if the poster would have gone to the trouble of conceiving and then consider aborting.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a former single Mom that is now a military spouse that is deployed. So sure I'm married but my life, other than more money, is pretty much exactly the same.

Money makes a big difference, don't you think?

NP— yes money makes a difference but money doesn’t define if you are a single parent or not. I make $250. I think I’m doing pretty good on my own. But I still have to make all the decisions on my own. I have no one to bounce ideas of off. There is no one to turn to in the room and mouth “what the f$&k” when you 12 yr old has an emotional meltdown because she’s hitting puberty. Thee is no on to commiserate with when you get the call from preschool that your child is bitting. There is no one share the joy of the first day of K or the last day of 5th.

Money makes outsourcing easier but it doesn’t define being a single parent.

Anonymous wrote:I'm a former single Mom that is now a military spouse that is deployed. So sure I'm married but my life, other than more money, is pretty much exactly the same.

Money makes a big difference, don't you think?