A British woman is speaking out about becoming pregnant and giving birth — despite the fact that she’s never had sex.
Kimberley Godsall, who is a 38-year-old virgin, welcomed a daughter, Scarlett, in February 2019 after spending more than $21,000 on fertility treatments.
“I’ve already heard all the jokes from friends about my ‘immaculate conception’ or how Scarlett and I should be the stars of the Nativity play, and I’m not offended by any of it,” Godsall told bbc media “I see the funny side.”
Godsall is among a burgeoning number of “virgin moms” who are opting to have children before they become intimate. At least four fertility clinics in England have helped heterosexual virgins conceive in recent years.
One British fertility doctor told bbc media that she has personally worked with three female virgins who wanted to conceive.
“One was a career woman and was too busy and I don’t think they’ve given themselves the opportunity to explore their sexuality. They were well balanced and mentally prepared,” the doctor said.
The exact number of “virgin moms” in America is not known, but it’s likely that fertility experts across the country are similarly helping US women become parents before they have sex.
Godsall — who hails from the town of Tunbridge Wells in Kent — told Daily Mail she is “saving herself” for marriage, despite the fact she is not religious.
“I realize it’s a romantic view of life, but from a young age I knew that while I wanted children, I only ever want to have sex with the person that I’m going to marry,” she stated. “So I felt I’d failed when I wasn’t married by my mid-20s.”
“I don’t judge other people for having lots of sexual partners — they can do what they like with their bodies,” she added. “And I wouldn’t expect my partner to be a virgin, that doesn’t bother me either, this is just what I’ve always wanted for myself.’
Despite a series of short-lived relationships, Godsall hadn’t found the man of her dreams by her mid-30s, and felt her biological clock ticking.
“For as long as I can remember I’ve longed to be a mom,” she said. “I couldn’t bear the thought of living my whole life without ever fulfilling that dream of having a child.”
In 2017, at 33 years old, she selected a sperm donor online and forked out more than $2,000 for an artificial insemination procedure known as IUI (intrauterine insemination).
Undergoing it was one of the most “traumatic experiences” of Godsall’s life.
“They used a speculum to open the vagina which was so painful for me, before inserting a catheter to deposit sperm into the uterus to meet the waiting egg,” she said. “They told me afterwards that my extreme reaction was down to being a virgin. Psychologically as much as physically, I was unaccustomed to any activity down there.”
The procedure was unsuccessful, and Godsall spent thousands more on IVF.
In mid-2018, Godsall was overjoyed to learn she was finally pregnant with a baby girl.
While her labor was both long and painful, she told Daily Mail it was well worth it to finally become a mom to Scarlett — who is soon set to turn 3 years old.
The mother-daughter duo have an unbreakable bond, and Godsall said she’d love to make Scarlett a big sister by having another baby. But, as a single mom, she is not in a financial position to do so.
And while she hasn’t ruled out meeting a man to marry, the “proud virgin” says motherhood is more fulfilling than getting steamy between the sheets.
“I used to feel that I wasn’t quite normal, having never had sex, and I didn’t want to die not knowing what it was like,’ Godsall said. “Part of me still does wonder what sex is like, and if I’m missing out, but not enough to have it with someone I’m not committed to. The fact I have my little girl is far more important to me than any of that.”
