Coming soon - Get a detailed view of why an account is flagged as spam!
view details

This post has been de-listed

It is no longer included in search results and normal feeds (front page, hot posts, subreddit posts, etc). It remains visible only via the author's post history.

319
How many folks here had a partner change their mind on being child free and blow up the relationship?
Post Flair (click to view more posts with a particular flair)
Post Body

Just curious. I'm feeling extra salty today as I navigate the absurdities of dating in America as a 45 year old man who is committed to a child free lifestyle (vasectomy a year ago).

I was with my ex for almost 10 years, 7 dating/engaged and 3 married.

After getting married, post a serious health scare, she changed her mind about wanting kids and essentially demanded to be a stay at home mom. There had always been other issues, but this one was insurmountable.

It's pretty difficult to not be bitter at times, and while I still dabble in the dating apps, post on Reddit, and occasionally do in person speed dating, I'm putting probably 70 - 80% of my energy towards just living my life and assuming I just won't ever find someone I'm physically, emotionally, and mentally attracted to that also has no children and doesn't want children.

I suppose I'm getting to the age where I can start to find women with 'adult' children, and not young kids. But that's a compromise I think wilk just have me dieing alone, as is the current plan, lol.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

Edit: So, seems overwhelmingly women responding regarding men changing their minds. I'd like to apologize on behalf of my gender.

Also, I would never seriously consider dating a woman even with adult children, unless it was something we both agreed was super casual. For all the reasons folks have posted cautionary tales, there's no chance I would get into what I intended to be a long term committed relationship with a woman with children of any age.

Comments
[not loaded or deleted]

Mind boggling, sorry you had that experience as well.

[not loaded or deleted]

Very true!

[not loaded or deleted]

Well that's an awful rollercoaster, and sounds like he's very similar to a certain amusement park noted for also have 6 red flags!

I'm definitely at the point where it's be single over compromising. I'm right there with you.

[not loaded or deleted]

I'm glad things have worked out for you overall. I hope your ex is a better partner to her baby daddy than she was to you. Craziness.

[not loaded or deleted]

Oh, I mean, it wasn't all awful. But it mostly was, haha. So no worries, I totally agree.

For sure she got the most benefit out of it, and potentially would have been in a very bad place with her medical issues if she wasn't living with me at the time they were going on. So I suppose I can feel 'good' for having been in her life during that time, but it was almost all at the expense of my own happiness.

[not loaded or deleted]

Why do I think my ex changed her mind? I generally wouldn't think anyone would change their mind quickly about something like having children. Which is why I just asked about other folks whose partners had also changed their minds.

In my specific instance, as my ex explained to me, she reevaluated her decision to be childfree while she is we sick but didn't express it to me until well over a year later after we'd decided to get married (we were on a path to breaking up before she got sick).

[not loaded or deleted]

That's certainly a good way to go, but seems like you'd need to hire a headhunter firm to find candidates, haha.

Have you been able to meet many people in the wild who you know to be sterilized? Even the CF4CF subreddit is incredibly slim pickings.

Author
Account Strength
100%
Account Age
4 years
Verified Email
Yes
Verified Flair
Yes
Total Karma
73,554
Link Karma
44,577
Comment Karma
27,951
Profile updated: 3 days ago
Posts updated: 1 month ago

Subreddit

Post Details

We try to extract some basic information from the post title. This is not always successful or accurate, please use your best judgement and compare these values to the post title and body for confirmation.
Posted
2 months ago