@TFC22
I'm a solo mother by choice, and although this isn't directly what the poster has asked about but it might be worth a read!
I was 39 when I conceived using a sperm donor (extremely fortunate that it all worked on the first IVF go) as the dating game was really wearing me down (I'd started aged 36/37). The issue with dating in your mid to late 30s is that there is an "agenda" but love isn't a tick box, or it shouldn't be, of it's love you want and not convenience or "settling" for someone and you may end up with someone who you are only with because you are running out of time/are seeing them through rose tinted glasses. Relationships need time. Dating can be gruelling and exhausting as you are looking for someone specific, and there is no meritocracy for dating resulting in a suitable relationship. Even if you do meet someone, they may change their mind entirely although initially they had said they would be willing, and then you could have wasted even more time. Impossible to guarantee.
As for fertility, nobody knows until they conceive, maintain a viable pregnancy and there is a live birth. You may or may not have fertility issues. Or your partner. Sometimes it is only discoverd when you start trying. And nobody knows what your individual chances are, not even the fertility specialists. They can only predict.
I wouldn't change my situation for anything. I no longer have the pressure of meeting someone and organise my life as I wish. It has been a huge relief. I'm not even that bothered about meeting someone as now that my son is here, it is a completely different worldview. Yes it can be tough doing it alone, but parenting is tough and you don't really know what your child will be like, if your (or any) relationship will last so you may end up being a single parent anyway down the line, or co parent with your ex partner, ot not at all or have a partner who isn't pulling his weight, or you may not and he is wonderful. It's all a gamble.
It depends how strongly you want a child. What's more important, a relationship or a chance to try to have a child, not everyone gets both at the same time, or at all.
For me it was important to have agency and some level of control, as I didn't want to have to rely on someone else's timeline. If I didn't get pregnant trying solo, at least I could have said to myself I'd tried, but lack of a partner or someone else taking that chance away was unacceptable to me. There is no NHS provision for trying it alone, unless there are identified medical issues, but that can take time so many women go via the private fertility clinics which be very costly or not, it depends on the treatment, or go abroad (cheaper but there could be other issues). Yes a level of financial security is required, but that's the case for being in a relationship too. I have had to make adjustments in my life, but they have been worth it, and I'm happy with the trade offs. Knowing what I know now, my only regret is not doing it earlier! Good luck with everything op!