Reddit Stories - Spouse DISCLOSES PREGNANCY news, but I realize I'm not the BIOLOGICAL parent due

Episode Date: January 29, 2026

#redditstories #askreddit #aita #pregnancy #biologicalfather #familydrama #relationshipissues #unexpectednews  Summary: A spouse reveals pregnancy news, leading to a shocking realization that the speaker is not the biological parent. This revelation sparks emotional turmoil, questioning loyalty, trust, and the future of their relationship. The speaker grapples with feelings of betrayal and uncertainty about their role in the child's life.  Tags: redditstories, askreddit, reddit, aita, tifu, pregnancynews, biologicalparent, familydynamics, relationshipadvice, emotionalturmoil, trustissues, parenting, unexpectedrevelations, lifechanges, couples, support, honesty, communication, dilemmas, personalstoriesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/reddit-stories--6816713/support.This episode includes AI-generated content.

Episode with two stories, first part. I hope you enjoy this story. Spouse discloses pregnancy news, but I realize I'm not the biological parent due to my infertility. However, I choose to go along with the situation. I, a 38-year-old male, entered into matrimony with my spouse, a 33-year-old female, a couple of years ago. We'd been dating for three years and she was more inclined towards marriage than I was but just to make her happy. I agreed to it. Around a year ago, we started trying to have a baby. Again, that was at my wife's insistence. We struggled a lot during the period that we were trying to conceive. Though when things got so bad for my mental health that I decided to go get myself tested. My wife had become mean during the time that we were struggling to conceive and I tried to deal with her behavior but it was just

too much to bear. So a few days after the test, I was told by the doctors, that I was sterile. To be honest, that pretty much broke my heart. Even though having a baby wasn't my idea, I'd started envisioning my life as a father already and I really wanted to be one so to learn that I'd never be able to be a dad was the most devastating news to me at the time. But the worst was yet to come. I'd been trying to work up the courage to tell my wife that I was the reason that we weren't able to conceive but I was afraid of how she'd react. She'd already been so mean to me, that I couldn't imagine her reaction when she'd find out that what she wanted was probably never going to happen with me. So I waited for a few days after I knew the results of my test to tell

my wife, but she's the one who ended up giving me a surprise. For days after I knew that I was sterile, she sat me down and told me that she had some really important news to share with me and I was extremely scared because I'd thought that she'd somehow found out about my sterility. But no, she wanted to tell me that she was finally pregnant. I was shocked to my very core at what she was saying but, thankfully, she was blissfully unaware of my true feelings and began to celebrate almost immediately. I tried to join in on her happiness so that she wouldn't doubt me or whatever but the very next day, I got tested again, just to confirm that I was really and truly sterile, and once again, I received the same results. I was at a loss because if I wasn't the

father, then my wife was most certainly cheating on me. The medical procedures that she needed to conceive artificially were expensive and since I was the only earning member between the two of us, she couldn't have gotten anything done without asking me for that sort of money first. So she was obviously cheating. The thought itself was so weird and horrible that I didn't do anything about it for the next few days while my wife planned a full-fledged party to announce her pregnancy. She seemed really happy and I was equally shattered but I couldn't let it. I didn't let it. I was it show on my face because I needed to get to the bottom of this whole situation. I didn't even tell my own family about what was happening and kept it all under wraps because this was way

too uncomfortable and personal to be shared with anyone. I couldn't even tell my wife what I thought because, firstly, way too much time had passed and secondly, I wanted to know who exactly the father of her child was because if I did confront her then maybe she'd just leave and I'd never know. Luckily, I found out on the day of the party itself. A lot of people attended, including our families, our friends, and a few of my co-workers. She also invited one of our neighbors, who lived right across the street from us. Our neighbor, 27M, is a young man and is definitely a lot better looking than me, no doubt. Not just me, but he's probably better looking than most people since he's a model,

but he's still trying to make a name for himself in the modeling world. He moved in with his aunt, who owns the house he lives in so that he's closer to the city since his own family lives really far away. My wife has always had a soft corner for this guy and would cook for him and his aunt when he'd moved in initially. He's even come over to our house for dinner a few times and we've chatted about his work. He's well-spoken and well-read as well and he's also a literature major, like my wife, so they have a lot in common and hit it off instantly the first time they met. I never had anything against the guy since he seemed sweet enough and I trusted my wife, too. But when he entered the house on the day of our party and my wife's eyes lit up, I could sense that something had changed. She made a beeline for him as soon as he walked in and they hugged each other

for longer than she'd hugged any of the other guests. Nobody else seemed to notice this, but I did and I could tell that they had something brewing but I just needed a way to confirm it. So I decided to excuse myself to go to the loo but headed to the bedroom instead and opened up my wife's laptop. I'd been able to check her phone while she was asleep a few days after she told me she was pregnant but I hadn't found anything suspicious. Getting to her laptop had proved to be a little more difficult since whenever I was home, she was constantly watching something or typing something on it. Whenever I'd ask her what she was doing, she'd turn the screen away from me and tell me that she was working on her novel. That had been going on for months and I'd respected her privacy because I'd actually thought that she was working on a novel. Now, the situation had changed and I was pretty sure that there was no novel and it was just an excuse to hide the contents of her laptop from me.

Thankfully, there was no password or anything I had easy access to. After some digging, I was able to find another email account in addition to a real one. I switched to that one and went through the emails that had been sent and received. I went through those emails and they were full of confessions of love from my wife and also the other guy, our neighbor. I recognized the email address since he was using his real name. And in the more recent emails, she was telling him that she was pregnant. He didn't take it kindly and was upset about it so the mail stopped for a while, presumably because he'd wanted to end things but my wife wasn't going to let him go.

Eventually, I got the worst email of them all where she was telling him that she'd spoken to a friend of hers who is a lawyer and she'd help her file for divorce right after the baby is born. The reason she'd even tried to convince me to have a baby with her was so that she'd get both the alimony and the child support after the divorce so that she could take off with our neighbor a few months after and live happily ever after. I was horrified when I read that and I can still feel the nauseating feeling take over me whenever I think about that email. Anyway, I quickly shook off whatever I was feeling and got back to work and took several pictures of the email on my phone before shutting it down and keeping it back where I'd found it.

I was less concerned about the cheating and more disgusted by what my wife was trying to do. Cheating was one thing but trying to trick me into having a child with her and then making me pay all that money just so she could fund her dream life with her struggling boyfriend was so psychotic. And the cherry on top was that she was such a great actress that I hadn't suspected a thing yet. Her happiness was almost disturbing but I was so angry about all of this that I decided to go the extra mile and take my revenge. I'd made up my mind to play along and then, I'd drop the bomb on her when she was least expecting it. There was no way I was going to let her just get away

with it without feeling the hurt, betrayal, and frustration that I'd been feeling when I found out about her dishonesty. Call me a psycho, but I did what I had to do. So for the next nine months, I played the perfect husband slash father to be. It was tough knowing that she was lying through her teeth to me all this while, but the more she lied and pretended to be happy with me, the more it strengthened my resolve to see this through. I attended every meeting with her doctor and made sure she took all her vitamins on time and was the best husband that one could ask for. Then, finally, a few days ago my wife went into labor. I was extremely nervous because who wouldn't be in my situation. But I put that all aside and took her to the hospital all by

myself. I'd called her parents already but not mine since I didn't want them present there in case things became too dramatic. Anyway, her parents had to drive for an hour to get to the hospital so we had some time to ourselves and that's when I chose to drop the bomb on her. Once she was safely inside the room, I told her that I was going to go out and call our neighbor so he could be here for her. She looked taken aback and stuttered a bit while saying that there was no need for that and she didn't want a stranger in the room while giving birth. So I smiled back at her and showed her the results of my fertility test along with the divorce papers since I'd filed for divorce just a few days before her due date that I'd made sure to carry

with me on that day. She went through all of it, still looking confused, so I explained to her that I wouldn't be able to impregnate her even if I'd wanted to so the baby wasn't mine. Then, I told her about the emails that I'd found on her super secret account, and at that moment, she finally realized what was going on. The look on her face was priceless as I walked out and she struggled to come up with words. I thought I'd need to stay in the hospital myself too because that's how fast my heart was beating when I finally walked out and called our neighbor up to inform him that my wife was in labor. I didn't even wait for his response and hung up as fast as I could. Then, I got into my car and waited for my wife's family to show up. As soon as I saw her dad's

car pull up in the driveway, I got out of there as fast as I could. I even turned my phone off for good measure and drove for a while until I got to this motel a little out of town. I'd packed my bags already a few weeks ago and had them stashed in the boot of my car so that I had all that I needed with me and wasn't caught unprepared at any point. I spent the rest of the day watching television, drinking beer, and doing everything I possibly could to take my mind off of things. I went to sleep that night quite peacefully, knowing that I was finally done and dusted with this whole act. The next morning, I woke up and finally turned my phone on. Naturally, there were hundreds of texts from my wife and my neighbor, none of which I bothered to even open, but I did go through

some texts that my parents and brother had sent me. I guess my wife had probably contacted them when she couldn't reach me so I decided to call my parents back and speak to them. I told them that I'd be coming back home in a while and even told them to get my brother there, if possible, so that I could explain the entire situation to them because they did deserve an explanation for what was happening. I drove to my parents' house and my brother was already there, all of them looking confused and kind of annoyed which was but natural because to them, I just missed the birth of my own child and it also made them miss the birth of their grandchild. But I sat them down and explained the whole story to them and told them my reasons for what I'd

done and by the time I was done telling them, they were speechless. I was ready to be bombarded with questions and accusations but nothing of the sort happened. All my dad said was that he hoped nothing worse would happen and if the others had any other comments, they didn't say anything so it was all chill on that front. That was a few days back and while my family hasn't said much, my wife has gone above and beyond to accuse me of ruining her experience of becoming a mother for the first time. She's been trying to call me and text me ever since I left but I haven't answered anything. Even my neighbor texted me a few hours ago. saying that my wife was really upset and that we should keep our differences aside for her sake

and at least try to sort things out with her for once. I can't believe the audacity that these people have, still trying to talk to me and make it seem like this is some petty thing that I'm getting pissed about. He mentioned a couple of other things as well in his text like how my wife had started to fall back in love with me during her pregnancy which had been a shock for both of them as well so I should at least try to give our marriage a second chance. I called BS on that because if she'd started to fall for me again then why was my neighbor still in the picture? I don't know why they think I'm that stupid.

My wife is upset but there's nothing I can do about it. She's mostly angry that I'd known everything right from the beginning but had chosen to be with her and put up with this whole act and accused me of lying to her. I'd have for staying with my wife throughout her pregnancy and misleading her despite knowing that the baby wasn't mine and she'd been cheating on me with our neighbor. Update 1, it's been close to a week since the baby was born and I've been staying in a hotel room. I haven't been over to see my wife yet and neither do I plan on going either. She's still texting and calling me, but I don't know why since I've made it pretty clear that I'm not interested in speaking to her or hearing her out. I haven't blocked her yet, but I have blocked my neighbor since he'd taken it upon himself to text me and remind me that my wife was still holding out hope and wanted me to get back to her. I'm 100% sure that the only reason he's still with her and trying to get me to forgive her is so that she'll at least get something out of the divorce settlement and the alimony since both of them are basically unemployed.

My wife was a stay-at-home spouse which I appreciated and respected but she wasn't just staying at home and doing the chores. She was also cheating on me behind my back and that was unforgivable. And before anyone attacks me, I'm not the one who suggested that she quit her job after marriage. In fact, I was quite supportive of her back when we were dating and she used to work, but she's the one who said she wanted to quit and take care of our home instead, so I didn't stand against that either since it was her choice and I earned well enough. Anyway, I'm pretty sure my lawyer will be able to get me out of paying alimony once we can prove that she'd been cheating, which, I'm hoping, is going to be easy.

As for my neighbor, he's still struggling to find well-paying modeling gigs so handling his own expenses. My wife's expenses and a baby on top of that is going to be next to impossible for them even with all their money combined so good luck to them. I'm just grateful that I'm out of this mess and won't have to give them anything, not even my attention. I just hope that my wife realizes that and doesn't waste more of my time by contesting the divorce. I'm hoping she won't but then again, given the utter lack of brains, she might as well so I'm prepared for that as well. The pictures of the emails that have been exchanged on her secret email account are still safely saved on my phone and backed up on my laptop so I'm not too worried. Even if she decides to delete her account, she cannot delete those images that I have

and I know I'll be good to go. Worst comes to worst, I'll even pay her the alimony but at least I won't have to be with her. She should count herself lucky. I'm giving her time to vacate our house by herself and have unforcfully evicted her since the house is registered under my name. I'm hoping for the best now and maybe this will blow over soon enough. Update 2, I was right, my wife's an idiot and has decided to negotiate since she wasn't happy with the settlement that I'd offered, which was basically just the amount that she'd spent during the course of the marriage and even that felt pretty generous to me. I don't even

understand what miracle she thinks is going to happen but whatever, good for her. She texted me yesterday saying that she'd vacated the house today and I went back happily, thinking that she'd probably moved in with her parents or something but was super disappointed to learn that she'd just moved across the street into our neighbor's house and I'd still have to see her and her boyfriend's faces every single day now. I even considered going back to living in a hotel but didn't, since this was my house and I had every right to live wherever I wanted to. I wasn't going to pack up and go just because they were going to make me uncomfortable. I did wonder why my wife hadn't gone to live with her parents instead since living with our neighbor was going to negatively impact the

divorce case and she was just making the situation worse for herself. But I didn't have to think too hard because while scrolling through all the unread messages that I'd received from multiple people so far, I also noticed one from my wife's father. I hadn't responded to several people who had texted me in the past few days and his message had also gotten lost in it. It was a long long text about how sorry he was regarding what his daughter had done and told me that they were strongly against her actions. Her father was saying these things so it meant a lot to me and validated my emotions so much that I could feel tears coming on but held back. Anyway, he apologized for my wife's behavior and told me that he'd cut her off since she

told him that she wanted to contest the divorce. So far nothing that my wife was doing made any sense to me at all since everything that she'd done was eventually going to backfire and surely even someone like her had the good sense to realize that. Either she's just really stupid or she still has some sick and twisted tricks up her sleeve. I'm hoping it's not the latter but then I wouldn't put it past her, she is pretty much the worst. This living arrangement is definitely going to lead to some complications and I'm sure they'll try to make me uncomfortable or jealous, but I'm determined not to let them get under my skin and provoke me because they're definitely going to use that against me. All things considered, I'm still saving a fortune since I don't have to live in a hotel.

So, it's been a month since the negotiations for my divorce settlement began and so far, it's going pretty badly for my wife. I've been able to prove that she'd been cheating on me and she'd even made my job easier by moving in with the guy I'd accused her of cheating on me with, so there was no question about the validity of my claims. She tried to make up some false accusations about how I was an alcoholic which is also why was sterile and that's why she'd gone ahead and had an affair since when we were trying to conceive. I'd become really cruel and bitter towards her, but that was all disproved quite easily since

everyone knew I'd quit drinking last year when we decided to start a new relationship. I've been able to prove that she'd been cheating on me and she'd even made my job easier by moving in with the guy I'd accused her of cheating on me with, so there was no question about the validity of my claims. Again, I don't know why she thought that would work and it was pretty damn stupid on her part. I guess she was just grasping at straws since her initial plan had failed miserably and now, she was too busy being a mother to be a scheming mastermind. She was too busy and her baby daddy was too stupid, so there they were. By now, both of us are well aware of the fact that the chances of her walking away with any alimony at all are very slim and I guess she must

have told her boyfriend this since a few days ago. She was quite unceremoniously kicked out of his house with her baby. Yeah, that's right. I heard a lot of screaming and shouting from their house and then, within minutes, I saw my wife and her son being pushed out of the house while the father screamed absolutely disgusting things about her and called her every name in the book. I was watching all of this happen from my living room and the second I saw him shove my wife out while she was carrying the baby, I rushed out to help. And Middy be damned, I couldn't let a poor innocent baby suffer for something that isn't even his fault. By the time I reached his doorstep, he'd already slammed the door shut while my wife and her son were both sobbing. I carried the

baby and grabbed my wife's hand so that I could lead them back to my house across the street and then called my father-in-law up so that he could take her home. Within an hour, he showed up and took her away, once again, thanking me for all that I'd done. During that one hour, my wife had been crying like a baby herself, so I'd basically been calming both mother and child down myself. I wanted to call the cops as well, but she managed to persuade me to let it go since she didn't want more trouble. She was apologizing again and again for whatever had happened and told me that she'd been so desperate to be with the one she loved that she'd lost all her self-respect and morals and she was truly sorry about all of it. She told me she'll accept whatever happens and

isn't going to negotiate anymore so the divorce is finalized faster. I guess that's one good thing. I hope she decides to press charges eventually on this odd though and heals herself as well. But at least I did whatever I could and was a decent person and I don't regret anything. That's the end of the first story. Let's begin the second one. I hope you enjoy this story. Am I being overly attached or is my partner being too aloof? All right, my partner and I initially started dating in the middle of September. We crossed paths at our workplace at our workplace as we met. We work in the same office but in different departments. Only a few of our co-workers know about it and they know to keep it a secret we make sure to actively avoid each other at the

office so it doesn't cuss any drama. He was interested in me first and I turned him down, but after he went out of his way to show me how thoughtful and sweet he was, I agreed to a date and things quickly went from there. I'd only dated one person before him, but that was only two dates and things never really went anywhere, thankfully, because he was a total dishebag. He's been in a few laters before me and even had a fiancé at one point. They broke up because she cheated on him. For about the first month and a half of us dating, he was very attentive and communicative. We'd be texting almost all the time and even though we both have busy work schedules, we'd usually go out or hang out at his place at least twice a week. He even got me a drawer at his

place like two weeks after we began dating so I'd have a place to put my pajamas and things. He was very clearly interested in me and honestly, one of my concerns when first getting into the relationship was that I may. Feel smothered at some point and would need to sit him down to let him know that I needed some space. Honestly, I wish that was my concern, because trying to get his attention nowadays feels like pulling teeth, here's why I feel that way. Dash, he used to be really sweet to me and flirt with me a lot through text and now the most I'm able to get out of him is the occasional Han. Dash, when we were first seeing each other, he would invite me over and invite me out and would express excitement towards seeing me. Now, I'm usually the one who has to initiate the plans and

he'll usually respond like, yeah, we can do that, or let me check my calendar, like damn, do you even want to see me? I'm asking to spend time with my boyfriend, not squeezing in F-I-N-G business meeting. It makes me feel like an obligation, which I really hate. Dash even though my boyfriend and I usually only see each other about once a week nowadays, he joked with me one day calling me clingy, I got really upset with him about it and kind of be at him out for it. He apologized saying it was a joke and he didn't mean it like that, but I feel like he wouldn't have made it if there wasn't a hint of truth to it. Dash communication is minimal nowadays, and what I do get is lackluster. We used to text

continuously having the most interesting and intellectually engaging conversations, some sweet, some sexy, you know the drill, he's on vacation right now and a few days ago. He texted me a good morning text around 10 a.m. and when I responded back, he kept me on read until midnight, when he finally replied back saying, hey, sorry, I was doing so and so all day. It only takes a few seconds to shoot a text. Saying you won't be on your phone for the rest of the day, I would have preferred that to feeling like I was being blown off by my boyfriend for the entire day. I feel like if he actually cared he would have taken that into consideration. Also, I texted him asking for him to call me because I missed him after he was gone for about a week and

he just replied. Yeah, I get it. Can I call you tonight? Then when we talked on the phone later on that night I said, I miss you a few times and didn't say it back. I get that maybe it takes longer than that amount of time for some people to miss others. But when we were first dating, he once said, miss you to me when we just seen each other the day previous. I don't get it, dash. We're still physically involved when we do hang out and what we do together is good. But there really isn't any build-up or tease anymore. He doesn't compliment me and we. Don't sext. It kind of makes me feel like a friends with benefits in a way. Except friends with benefits probably are more excited about seeing each other. At least, dash, he doesn't really open up to me emotionally anymore. He used to talk to me

about things that are bothering him or things that are going on personally and he doesn't really actively bring those things up anymore. I want to be there for him but it's hard to do so when he let me, I really hope that this post doesn't paint. Him out to be a bad guy because he's really not. In fact, he's an incredible guy, which is why I'm with him, he's charitable and sweet, has a great love for his family and friends, and he's smart and funny. He always listens to me when I'm stressed or upset and apologizes when he messes up, and it's not like he's ashamed to be with me or anything.

He introduces me to his friends as his girlfriend. Even though he has a lot of female friends, I don't think he'd cheat on me, he actually hadn't. been sexually involved with anyone for about two years before seeing me, so I know he doesn't give into urges and temptation like some people do. It just makes me wonder why he's acting like this. I've mentioned to him as being distant before and he just tells me that he's sorry and that he hasn't noticed he's acting like that then brings up one or two very temporary things that have been on his mind. I'd understand it if it had just happened for two weeks, but it keeps happening and is getting worse. I want to talk to him about this because I really want things to work out between us and I don't

want to end up presenting him over something that's fixable. I don't feel like I'm asking for too much. I just want to be a priority and to be shown affection. Am I just over-analyzing everything? If he was really losing interest in me, he would have just broken up with me already, right? I know that pretty much every response I'm going to get is going to say that I won't know until I ask him, but I don't know how to present this to him, like I said earlier on. When I do present problems in our relationship. He just apologizes and apologizes. I don't say these things to guilt-trip him or to make me feel superior to him. I just want our relationship to be healthy and how are we supposed to do that if I don't communicate what I'm feeling, I'm going to be seeing him

on Saturday so. I think I'm going to need to sit him down for a very serious face-to-face talk. I'm just not sure exactly what to say. Any advice or perspective would be much appreciated. Update. Am I being too clingy or is my boyfriend being too distant? I couldn't wait until Saturday, on Tuesday, I asked him when he was flying back in from vacation and he told me he was flying in around 12.30am on Thursday, so I told him I wanted to come over to his house after work that day, today, to talk. He apparently had plans with another co-worker of hours, which I was salty about because I figured that he would want to see his girlfriend, of all people, after being gone for two weeks, but he blew them off because it sounded important, so I went over to. His house tonight with a

box of his things and gave him the spiel. I said pretty much everything I'd said in my post then basically laid it down to, If you're not into me anymore, I'd understand. But please just break up with me so we can find people who are better suited to us, and if you are into me still, then you need to show it. The entire time he nodded his head and looked very understanding. Once I was done talking, he admitted that he had indeed been distant for the past month and a half, particularly the past three weeks.

He then explained that the reason for this is because he realized that we have very different aspirations for the future and he has been racking his brain and talking to everyone trying to find a way to make it work. I asked him what he wanted that I didn't and he said, kids. He wants kids within the next couple of years. He said he thinks he'd make a really great dad, and he knows that I'm young and that's not something that I want. And even if it is, it wouldn't be something that I would want within the next couple of years. He told me that it was killing him inside that he couldn't think of a compromise that could work for us to be together because he loves me. First time he's ever told me that, He said he didn't want to continue on in our relationship hanging on to maybe as only for us to end up resenting each other or pressuring.

Each other into things we don't want. I let him know that I'm still growing and my thoughts on it could still change. And that right now, my main reservation with children is actual pregnancy and I could possibly see myself adopting. He shook his head and said he wanted children of his own. He's right. We cried in each other's arms, collected my things, and discussed our boundaries at the office. I let him know that I didn't regret our relationship and that I'm so thankful for all of the good that we had together, I thanked him for being so good to me and for showing me the way that I deserve to be treated in a relationship, before the emotional distancing, of course. He then told me that he was honored to be my first boyfriend as he understood how big of a step that was for me to take and said that I'm the best

girlfriend he's ever had and I've showed him love more than anyone he has ever dated before, including his ex-fiance. He said that he felt for a long time that he didn't deserve love and I showed him that he did. We agreed that we were going to keep all of the gifts that we'd given to each other and that we needed some time apart to agree but that we would still be friends and that we wished the best for each other and finding people who have the same aspirations for the future. He then walked me to my car for the last time. Fuck, this sucks, edit. Thank you everyone for your kind words of support. I'm still. Hurting and I have spent a lot of time crying, and I'm sure I will for a while, but I will heal with time. The day after the breakup, I tried to

avoid him at the office, but the few times I saw him on accident I could tell he was hurting. It hurts me to see him hurt. I have not spoken to him since and will not do so for quite a while as I don't want to reopen the wound. I also deleted WhatsApp from my phone, as that was what we used to message each other and I am trying to break the habit of consistently checking my phone to hear from him. Due to some of my current life circumstances, many aspects of my life have been based off of things that would make me happy while still being feasible slash convenient for other people in my life, mainly my mother, not necessarily what I truly want for myself, before my former, I choose to refer to him as my former as opposed to my ex. Because I think X just sounds too harsh and has a negative connotation, I never would have thought marriage. Would be something that I'd want for myself, now that I've been shown what a good relationship is like and what it feels like to love and be loved in return, I would really like to be married, since I'd previously never even thought I wanted marriage. This is why I'd never really prioritized whether or not I want children. I have a bad habit of focusing on my present instead of my future. I have decided that for the next few months,

probably closer to half a year. I'm going to make a point of prioritizing what I want for my future long term in regards to what I think would make me happy. I'm going to start reflecting on if having children is something I think could be a fulfilling part of my life and if it would make me happy. I'm honestly not sure what children are like. My friends slash close family don't have children so I never really spend time with any, which is another reason I haven't thought about it much, so I may see if I can find some. Opportunities to babysit or spend time with children in some other way to see if I like them and if I could see myself caring for one long term.

I think it's something I need to do to avoid this kind of heartbreak in the future. And if I do decide that I'd like to have children on the same timeline as my former does and it just so happens that my former is still single and he still wants to build a future with me. Then I'll see if he wants to pick up where we left off. But if it turns out that, I just don't want kids or I know I'm not going to be sure for a while. then I will hope someone with just as much love to give comes into my life who feels the same.