There are several different categories as to how one becomes a single parent. You are either a single parent by choice, a single parent due to never having been married for other reasons, a single parent due to divorce, or a single parent due to widowhood, the death of your spouse. Each of these categories has very unique circumstances surrounding them.
If you are a single parent by choice you are probably very self-sufficient and presumably fearless in your undertaking to be a single parent. Most likely, you are successful and secure and the need for a partner is not necessary in your life to make you feel complete or capable of parenting a child alone. This single parent may or may not choose to have the father of the baby be an active participant in hers and her child’s life.
A single parent without a partner for other reasons probably did not plan to have her life as a parent begin this way, but will gather up her courage and try to be the best parent alone that she can be. The father may or may not be an active participant in his child’s life.
The divorced single parent did not intentionally start out this way. Married life did not work according to her hopes and dreams. A child or children grew out of love, but then the love slowly faded leaving the remnants of her hopes and dreams as scattered bits of tattered leaves. She must do the majority of the childrearing herself, but likely the father is still involved and the children will still have him in their lives. The reverse may also be true if the father of the children has custody. Either way, the child or children will likely have both parents for support although the family is living apart.
A single parent due to widowhood can be unexpected or foreseen ahead of time. There may or may not be time for acceptance of your situation beforehand or it could slap you across the face in the blink of an eye and turn your happy home upside down. There are very unique circumstances for a single parent in this situation.
To say that one is a single parent is to say very little. There are many single parents in this world each with their own set of circumstances behind them. Be sensitive to the uniqueness that each one entails and be careful not to judge a book by its cover.
Angel Lynn writes for weight loss, single parenting, and health.