LONDON, September 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Single women in London are abandoning their hunt for Mr Perfect and settling for Mr Family Man instead, a study by London Fertility Centre, part of Spire Fertility has revealed.

Researchers found one in ten married women in the Capital gave up searching for their ideal partner, amid worries their biological clock was ticking. Instead, they have settled down with a man who they believe will make a good father, even though he may not tick all the other boxes.   

It also emerged that almost a third of single women said if they don't meet 'the one' in time to have a child they would consider 'going it alone' and having fertility treatment.

62 per cent of those defended their decision saying they were determined to have a child whether it's with or without a partner and 40 per cent said that one decent parent is better than two bad ones.

In the study^[1], findings revealed that more than one in ten married women did in fact settle for a partner purely because their need to have a baby was so strong.

Of those, 25 per cent said they are glad they 'made do' with their other half, but over half said they wished they had persevered and waited to find Mr Right.

The findings emerged in the study conducted by Spire Fertility, a UK network of fertility clinics, which found 35 per cent of women in London think they have missed the boat when it comes to motherhood because they have always been holding out for 'the one'.

While 40 per cent said they are increasingly worried that time is running out for them to start a family.

Subsequently 29 per cent of singletons claim to be continually 'on the hunt' for a father to their unborn children.  

Dr Magdy Asaad from London Fertility Centre said: "We frequently receive enquiries from both single women and men who are researching their options for starting a family as they get older. Times have changed and being a single parent now is more commonplace than it was, say, 20 or 30 years ago."

"We have seen increasing numbers of people coming to us for fertility tests, which tell them how long they can wait before starting a family, as well as more women who are freezing their eggs so they can try parenthood later in life."

68 per cent of adults questioned believe women are more eager to settle down than men and age 44 was the age that both women and men were considered 'too old' to have a child.

1. Independent online survey of 2,000 women and men in the UK conducted by OnePoll in August 2011.

SOURCE London Fertility Centre