Mothers beyond tradition: legal and psychosocial dimensions of single motherhood through assisted reproduction in Kosovo and the Western Balkans.

This article explores the status of single women's rights to access in vitro fertilization (IVF) in the Western Balkans, with a particular focus on Kosovo. Despite adopting a constitutional framework aligned with the highest standards of Western democracies, Kosovo has for years failed to regulate this issue. In a predominantly Muslim and socially conservative society, resistance to recognizing such rights is often justified on the grounds that children cannot be properly raised without a father figure and that restrictions on access to genetic origins risk undermining the healthy development of children conceived through IVF. This article does not dismiss these concerns outright. Rather, it argues that such objections lack empirical support. Studies indicate that children raised without a father figure can experience full well-being and healthy psychosocial development. This article advances a dual interwoven perspective: legally, it situates Kosovo's obligations within its constitutional and international human rights commitments; psychologically, it challenges conservative narratives by highlighting research on child outcomes in single-mother families. It concludes that, instead of limiting single women's reproductive rights, Kosovo should provide access to IVF while ensuring that children are granted the opportunity, at an appropriate age, to obtain information about their biological fathers.