Single mum says solo parenting 8000kms from her family was the best decision she's ever made

Kate wasn't looking to settle down when she discovered she was pregnant.

"I'd been with the father for a year", she explains. "It was low-key. My new business was thriving in LA... Kids were not the natural next step."

Having recently turned 30 she says she felt she "couldn't not go through with it".

Then her relationship fell apart.

She'd met her little boy's dad on online dating site Bumble — and he "freaked out".

After a month or so of trying to re-connect on a friendly level to co-parent, they decided to go their separate ways for good.

Kate made the tough decision to carry on with her pregnancy and bring her son up on her own.

Suddenly she was 8,000kms from her family in the UK, juggling spearheading a growing beauty PR business and a difficult pregnancy ("doctors prescribed bed rest for two months").

"I got rid of the office and worked from my bed at first", she explains.

"I set up a 'remote working environment' for my staff so they could choose where they logged on; be it my house, a local cafe or the beach.

"I was on lockdown for the next six months — everything was just baby and work."

Kate says her decision to solo parent was "made so much harder because there's still no support for women who choose to go it alone".

Something she struggled to make sense of in 2017.

"There's no ante-natal classes for single parents", she says. "It's still such a taboo."

She's speaking to me via Skype, her laptop balanced on her knee while breastfeeding her gorgeous baby boy, Jackson.

She's just finished up a conference call with one of her clients from her sofa, and has a few more hours of work ahead.

"My clients have been so supportive from the day I told them I was pregnant", she says.

"As a single mum, you have to be able to work. Traditional maternity leave isn't an option."

Kate is the founder of LA-based PR agency Morgan Publicity and a new mum. Photo: Supplied

That meant going back to work almost immediately after Jackson was born.

"I gave birth on a Tuesday at 9pm and was back online by the following Monday", she says — often working between hourly night feeds to get everything done.

As Jackson beams at her, it's clear Kate doesn't regret her choice or the sacrifices she's made since.

She simply wants other women who suddenly find themselves in her position to know solo parenting is doable, if challenging sometimes.

"I wouldn't have it any other way", she says.