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What happened to Ester Morcuende happened to many women when age tightened: her maternal instinct was not very clear, but she did not want to regret later not having children either.

, her decision was hers alone and she did not think too much about it.

She went to an assisted reproduction clinic and got pregnant.

They are one of the almost two million single-parent families (1,944,800) in Spain, according to the National Institute of Statistics.

Of these, 81% are headed by a mother, like Ester.

Under these figures are the widowers, the divorced and also those who have decided of their own free will to start a family on their own.

"I went to all the tests alone. I didn't say anything to anyone until I checked that everything was going well," she says.

On one side was his joy and, on the other, some future grandparents (especially him) with a conservative profile.

"I asked my father if he was happy and he answered no. Now he is delighted with his grandson, but that day I was

. 'What are we going to say in town,' he told me."

She is often told that she is very brave, but she disagrees: "The merit is entirely hers. She must have given me one or two bad nights, she eats well, she doesn't get sick... It's lucky, because my parents live 200 kilometers away ", bill.

It is already known that when one works outside the home, more than once it is time to put up with it and 'ask for' the day due to an untimely fever, wild gastroenteritis, a runny nose caught in the store and never goes away.

Ester, who works in a bank, has weathered these inclement weather with luck, but when something unforeseen has arisen in the office, she has not brought up her situation: "I have never wanted

at work. At first I didn't I said I was a single mother, but then it just came naturally."

16 weeks of maternity leave and... to the office

When she joined after 16 weeks of maternity leave, a reduction in working hours was taken.

She always knew that his salary would be the only one and with him, throw.

"I have never received

. Only once, in

[a theme park], I took advantage of a discount for single-parent families," she admits.

"We should have the same permits when our children are born," she protests.

Since her son's first questions arose, Ester has always answered truthfully and naturally: "The first time he was three years old and

. He thought he was dead. I explained to him that I went to the doctor to have him and that not all families are the same," he says.

And of loves, what?

"Before I had boyfriends, but never a relationship to live together. Now I don't want to have a partner, but I do have dates. My son does not condition me beyond looking for someone to stay with him one night," he admits.

Her story is smiling all the time, like her, without shadows, although at first, things got quite rough: "The first three months were a world for me. I couldn't vent to anyone, it was horrible and I thought 'my goodness, What have I done?' Now I'm delighted, but then...", she recalls amused.

Single mothers claim their rights

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Carmen Flores is president of the

, a mutual support entity that remains alert to the future Family Law.

The text, promoted by the Ministry of Social Affairs, should have been approved in October but, for the moment, it is on 'stand by'.

It includes measures such as the increase in

for all mothers with children between 0 and 3 years of age (whether they work outside the home or not) and the consideration of

Flores does not have them all with him, because the approval of the law is not advancing and it does not seem that he is going to contemplate the demands of families where there is only one parent: "We participated in the public consultation that the politicians did, we have met with them to explain the discrimination we suffer, but we don't know if the law will respond to our needs. What we do know is that in the

there are no specific items on what we ask for".

fams

And what do they ask for?

Above all, that your family model has

before the administrations, that is, a box just like that of large families, for example.

Flores explains that they aspire to this accreditation because they constitute "25% of families with children" and therefore do not want to be invisible to social policies.

This recognition, says the president of FAMS, would help to break this gap:

and exclusion (according to the Arope report), almost double the average for all Spanish households (26.4%).

They are organized, they are fighters, and this Sunday, World Children's Day, they have organized a protest picnic under the slogan

, with which they want to explain why their children are discriminated against.

"When requesting scholarships, housing aid or accessing the Minimum Vital Income (IMV) we have to provide the

. As many times, due to lack of resources, we cannot live alone, this data harms us in the scales. A two-parent family is not questioned with whom they live, but we are," he explains.

Another of their claims is that they be considered

and the

and lactation leave.

"The courts are giving us the reason in the lawsuits, but we want Social Security to recognize our children's right to be cared for 32 weeks, the same as in two-parent families. It is not fair that we, after 16 weeks, have to leave them and, on top of that, pay what that care costs", he concludes.

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