How we met: ‘I was trying to have a baby alone when we matched on a dating app’

Emmy was on en route to Athens to try artificial insemination when she started chatting to Andy. Now they have a child together

After turning 30 in 2018, Emmy made the life-changing decision to have a baby alone. “I had always really wanted children,” she says. “But when I did a fertility MOT, I discovered I had low egg reserves.” Single, and reluctant to wait for a suitable partner to come along, she began the process of IVF. “I naively thought it would work, but I had a couple of miscarriages in the early stages.”

In February 2020, she travelled to Athens to try artificial insemination by a donor. “I’ve lived and worked in Greece and loved it. It was cheaper and I had friends to stay with,” she says. Before she landed, she matched on a dating app with a man from Liverpool called Andy, and they began to chat. “I’d been single for about four years and was quite happy in my own world,” he says. “But I was open to meeting someone and I found Emmy really engaging.”

Continue reading...

* This article was originally published here

26 [M] has no idea how to break up with 28 [F] girlfriend

So.. I have been living together with her for a bout 4 years and I keep noticing that I have been pushing myself into the background for more than a year.

I don't really feel "happy" anymore and I am kinda running on auto-pilot. Every day is the same. Wake up, work, eat, watch tv/play video games, go to bed. We aren't intimate anymore either. I get annoyed with the tiniest things that she does. She always lectures me, even on my job, almost pretending she is my boss.

There is almost no communication between us since it almost always ends with me apologizing or a huge akward silence.

The problem of breaking up is that she doesn't have a job, she is finally doing an education to get a job, and I am afraid I will push her back down now that she is finally becoming more positive. She has had a very difficult life. The only money that she gets is a funding from the government wich isn't enough to go and rent something. And she doesn't really have any family nearby to move in with.

So I have no clue. I don't just want to throw her out. I know how "unstable" she can be... And even though I notice my feelings for her are completely fading, I still want her to be okay.

Any help would really be appreciated because I am completely lost and don't know how much longer I can take this :s

TL;DR I am in a relationship of 5 years that is going nowhere and making me unhappy. I have no idea how to end it because of multiple reasons.

submitted by /u/rias_lover1
[link] [comments]

* This article was originally published here

I think I am falling out of love with my husband, should I stay?

I (33f) have been with my husband (32m) for nearly 14 years, married for 5, we have one toddler daughter together and I’ve slowly been feeling myself falling out of love with him.

I think it started after we had our daughter and I realized he isn’t the kind of dad I thought he would be. He’s always had a short temper and had irrational blow-ups but all of the sudden it was happening with my child, not just with me and I started to resent him for it. I always confront him about these anger issues when they surface and he always apologizes and agrees he needs to work on it, but they always resurface.

I think he also resents how I spend much more time being a mom to our child than being his wife, and I know I should try harder with him but if we have time alone I’m really hoping to be alone, not with him or with anyone. For two years I’ve been wrestling with feelings that we are completely disconnected and I don’t know that I can regain the love I once felt.

I also lost weight recently and have begun to have self-confidence for really the first time in my life and I’ve started to enjoy getting looks from other men. We were so young when we met and I never really experienced dating.

He’s a good person and he says he’s still very in love with me and can’t lose me. He’s agreed to couples’ counseling but has never followed through with therapy in the past. I’m afraid I’m just wanting a counselor to give me permission to leave or say we should separate because I just don’t want to hurt him.

Can counseling fix us or is it too late?

TL; DR! Falling out of love with my husband and wanting to know if counseling willful this or if divorce/separation is best.

submitted by /u/SweetBasic7871
[link] [comments]

* This article was originally published here

You be the judge: is it OK for my boyfriend to keep butter in the cupboard?

She thinks butter belongs in the fridge; he thinks it’s fine sitting out. We air both sides of a domestic disagreement – and ask you to deliver a verdict
• If you have a disagreement you’d like settled, or want to be part of our jury, click here

My boyfriend insists on keeping butter in the ‘pantry’. To me it’s strange and unhygienic

Continue reading...

* This article was originally published here

Black Authors Share The Best New Books Celebrating Black Love And Joy

"The very happiest I can be is writing about Black love, Black joy, Black excellence. That’s what I want to see all day every day."

* This article was originally published here

It takes two: the five best podcasts hosted by couples

From married comedians to polyamorous players, if it’s insights from couples you want, well there’s a podcast for that

Couples’ podcasts are very much not for everybody. If they lean a little too far one way, they’re overbearing and smug; too far in the other direction and they become unbearably tense psychodramas. The safest place for you to start is probably Shagged. Married. Annoyed, hosted by married comedians Chris and Rosie Ramsey. A weekly unstructured chat, Shagged. Married. Annoyed is relentlessly lighthearted and unchallenging – and as such, actually very pleasant to listen to. One potential criticism is that the Ramseys do sound like they’re aggressively trying to turn their marriage into a brand. So if that’s not your sort of thing, stop reading now.

Continue reading...

* This article was originally published here

Need advice on how to “quit” my friend’s business

Since June last year I(28f) have been working with my friend to help grow her(36f) business. She always treated (and paid) me as an equal partner, and we had tons of fun together.

As we rolled out a new version of our offering this past month, I was planning on having a sit down and officialize my partnership in the business.

A couple of months ago though, she hired a “business coach”, and things started to change a lot. I disagree with several strategies he suggests, and my friend’s behavior towards me changed.

She’s micromanaging what I do/don’t do and the last drop was that she “cut my pay” by almost 5 fold because “she needs to start treating this as a real business”. She did that by taking me to a sit down dinner and had a whole speech prepared, which undoubtedly came straight from the “coach”, who I later learned is getting paid “thousands of dollars month”.

I was in such disbelief and did not have the confidence to say anything so just kept going. I know I need to leave if I wanna preserve the friendship long term, but I’m sad to leave the project behind AND don’t know how to start this awkward conversation.

What would you do?

TL;DR: Friend no longer treats me as a business partner and I need advice on how to quit

submitted by /u/Robinator2016
[link] [comments]

* This article was originally published here