Cheri Bergeron | Mission Motherhood: IVF after 40 & Solo Parenting by Choice
- Collabs Creative
- Feb 18
- 3 min read
Mission Motherhood: Choosing Your Path When the Fairy Tale Changes
For many women, motherhood exists as a quiet assumption in the background of life. The timeline may vary, but the sequence often feels implied: education, career, partnership, then children. It’s not always spoken aloud, but it lingers — a narrative we absorb through culture, media, and example.
Cheri Bergeron followed the early chapters of that script. She built a successful career in Silicon Valley, embraced independence, and stepped fully into the empowerment messaging of her generation. She believed she had time. Time to build. Time to date. Time to eventually become a mother.
What she didn’t realize was how quickly that assumed timeline could narrow.
When she pursued fertility testing at forty, she encountered a reality many women face but few openly discuss. Fertility has limits. Biology doesn’t always align with ambition. And the cultural messaging around “you can have it all, later” doesn’t always tell the full story.
IVF became her path forward. Each cycle carried hope, anxiety, and emotional vulnerability. The process was physically demanding, financially heavy, and psychologically isolating. There is a particular loneliness that comes with infertility — especially when the outside world continues moving as if nothing is happening.
At a critical juncture, Cheri was presented with the option of egg donation. It forced a fundamental question: was motherhood about genetic connection, or about raising a child?
Her answer reshaped everything.
Choosing an egg donor wasn’t a compromise — it was clarity. It allowed her to step out of the narrow definition of motherhood she once held and into a broader understanding of what family truly means.
That clarity became the foundation for her nonprofit, Cheri’s Choice, which exists to help women understand fertility options and alternative paths to parenthood long before crisis forces urgency.
But her journey didn’t stop at IVF.
As her marriage revealed misalignment around parenthood and shared values, Cheri faced another defining choice. She could stay within the safety of a traditional structure that didn’t fully support her vision, or she could build the life she wanted independently.
She chose motherhood.
Becoming a single mother by choice required letting go of the fairy tale version of family. It meant grieving the image of a two-parent household while embracing the possibility of something different — and equally meaningful.
What she discovered surprised her. Solo parenting, while demanding, offered clarity. Decisions were hers. Energy was focused. There was no constant negotiation around core values. The simplicity of autonomy created stability.
Then came the legal battle that exposed just how outdated systems can be.
After separating from her husband but remaining legally married, Cheri conceived her son using an anonymous sperm donor. Years later, her estranged husband filed a lawsuit claiming parental rights — not based on biology, but on marital status.
The case forced the courts to confront a difficult question: how do we define parenthood in an era of assisted reproductive technology?
For six months and at significant financial and emotional cost, Cheri fought to protect her autonomy and her son’s future. She ultimately prevailed, but the experience revealed how slow legal frameworks can be to adapt to modern families.
Through every chapter — career, infertility, egg donation, solo parenting, legal advocacy — one consistent truth emerged: there is no singular blueprint for motherhood.
Motherhood can be planned. It can be unexpected. It can involve IVF, egg donation, foster care, adoption, or solo parenting. It can unfold inside or outside traditional partnership. It can challenge assumptions and still be whole.
Cheri’s story is not just about reproductive technology. It’s about agency. It’s about informed decision-making. It’s about redefining empowerment to include fertility education and reproductive autonomy.
If the glass slipper doesn’t fit, it doesn’t mean the story is over.
It means you get to write a new one.
Resources Mentioned
How to Connect with Cheri
Website: https://cheribergeron.com
LinkedIn: Cheri Bergeron
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