My documentary Motherboard follows my first 21 years of motherhood – these films about single mums inspired me

By Victoria Mapplebeck, Professor in Digital Arts, Royal Holloway University of London

On a warm and sunny May bank holiday in 2003, I had one of those rare days that truly changes your life forever. I sat in my bathroom, hands shaking as two pink lines emerged on the pregnancy test I was holding.

I was 38, single and broke. This pregnancy was the result of a brief relationship which had only amounted to four dates. Shell-shocked as I was, I laughed out loud in a moment of joy I knew there was no coming back from. Nine months later I gave birth to my son Jim.

My old Nokia still holds the text thread of the three years I was in touch with Jim’s dad. My messages…

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