Hello, I’ve [26F] posted on here quite a few times about different relationship situations but now I wanted to post something more personal to me in the hopes that someone might have some helpful advice to offer.

Although I’ve always wanted to be married and have kids, quite sadly I don’t know why but I do get worried that it may not happen for me. It feels quite distant and almost unattainable. A lot of people my age now are getting engaged and getting married but for whatever reason I can’t really imagine it for myself. They say every little girl dreams of their wedding day but honestly when I try to picture my own I just go blank.

The guy that I’m dating currently mentioned once that I always seem to revert to topic of marriage/kids - which is probably true. I’ve decided going forward I’m going to try my best to just avoid the topic altogether but I think the reason I bring it up a lot is because I feel if I talk about it enough, it might become real one day. I do like him but unfortunately I don’t really see him ever marrying me, it is early days I know but I believe our time together may have run it’s course.

I would say I’m an average woman at between 5’7 to 5’8 and weighing 139lb. I’ve been told by men and other women that I have a nice figure. I get approached in person by men, I wouldn’t say often on a regular day but when I’m dressed up then yes. I’ve never been in an official bf/gf relationship though and to be honest the longest I’ve ever dated someone consistently is 7 months and that’s the guy I’m seeing now. It’s not that I’ve been sleeping around or anything, I’ve only slept with 2 guys (the first was a 2 yr long situationship and the second is the current guy) but I guess I started dating quite late at 21 so I just struggle with understanding the steps to even get into a relationship or navigate dating. I have 2 close friends from university but neither of them is interested in marriage right now let alone kids so I feel quite isolated in who to discuss these things with.

I never do want to end up as a single mother but as I’m getting older I think I’ve become able to sympathise with them more and understand why a woman would accept that option. If you feel that your chances for marriage are quite slim but you would like to become a mother yourself and raise children then I guess you are kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place. I don’t want to live in the mindset that that’s all there is to life so I’ve tried to imagine my life in the next 10/15 years without a husband and without kids but I think I would be quite lonely and I would have to make some serious career changes now to ensure I’m earning well enough at that point.

I think with this current and extremely brief relationship (or fling maybe) coming to a close and with my 27th birthday fast approaching, I’ve started feeling a lot more insecure and quite low on confidence. I’ve got a job interview coming up so I would love to not feel so heavy-hearted and eventually start dating again with more clear intention for marriage but I’m just not sure how to go about all of this.

Thank you for taking the time to read x