Would you judge a 26 year old (mum of 2) who casually sleeps with someone who is 18?

Yes I would, makes me feel a bit sick to be honest . They are a teenager

Go for it. Both consenting, both adults, both having fun. No one said she needs to get married to him ffs...

Yes

None of our or your business.
Why should you be interested?

Both adults. As long as the young woman doesn't fall madly in love and start being possessive, he is having the time of his life.

I know a guy who married a girl in her twenties, when he was eighteen. Nobody batted an eyelid. They are still together with adult children and grandchildren.

My husband is 5 years younger than me. We met when he was 18 and a half, on my 23rd birthday. Been together 14 years and married for 10. I say do whatever makes you happy, especially given that you’ve no intention of introducing him to your kids. My husbands farming born and bred and (was) an old head on young shoulders. No one ever guessed our age gap.

I'm 26 and wouldn't even consider it. I work with an 18 year old and can't even fathom the idea of sleeping with one.

Thinking about it, in my misspent youth, which is a very long time ago, well 40 years ago when i was 19 I had an off/ on fling with a bloke who was 27. Both of us single and no children. It went on for a few years.
I still see him around town and have a chat when I bump into him. He was a nice bloke then and still is.

I had a fling when I was 25 with a much younger bloke.He is in his 50s now,still pleasant looking and has a great personality. He ended up marrying one of my friends eleven years later and they are a great couple.

None of us have suffered any psychological damage, no abuse of power. No problem!😊

I came to say yes, then stopped and thought about the fact DH & I met when I was 19 he was 27. We are still married 20 + years later so in hindsight shouldn’t judge.

I do have an 18 year old DS now though and wouldn’t like the situation.

I have been consistent with my argument and point from the very beginning.

No i don't think a 26 year old mother of two should have "casual sex" with an 18 year old. I don't think 18 year olds are old enough to deal with the consequences of casual sex. I don't think "casual sex" exists. I think sexual relationships are still relationships and sometimes they get messy. If you look at all of my posts I've been thinking about the "poor children" all along because I see the damage caused by emotionally immature parents on a daily basis. I am more than happy to own my discomfort with that.

We disagree on the fundamentals. That's ok. You do you.

You gave an opinion but you became unravelled when challenged and you chop and change about what your opinion is about. Its about pure judgement and discomfort with a different lifestyle to yours.

I notice you have since moved on to 'wont somebody think of the children'

Its ok, just own it. But you're not the moral arbiter of grown adults.

I'm not interested in banning anyone from anything. I was asked my opinion on big age gap sex. I gave it. And it's the advice I give my own children about sex regardless of age. Really simply, if you don't want to have a baby, if you don't want to co-parent, if you don't want to be stuck with this person forever, if you don't want to pay child maintenance, if you don't want to be stuck on your own with a child, then the only way to guarantee that is to not have sex with that person. If you're willing to take the risk then you need to be willing to face the consequences (none of which are as a casual or fun or exciting as the shag). If more people spent more time considering who they shagged there would be considerably less damaged children in the world.

Yes.

Ok so ban 18 year olds from sex then, put chastity belts on them, thats the only way you'll prevent these teen tiny children from having children of their own.

Thats life, we go through life, we meet people, we grow up, we dont grow up, we have experiences, we dont have experiences. We have good experiences and bad experiences, its part of life

The very young boy of 18 could get himself a very young girl of 18 as a girlfriend.

What to do then eh?

They could get hurt regardless of the age gap though, if they’re not mature enough to deal with that they shouldn’t be having sexual relationships full stop imo

@blossomtoes At 18 I would still feel the need to protect them. Age is definitely just not a number!

This thread is really concerning in terms of how many people are fine with this!

I didn't want to be a parent when I was 18. I certainly wouldn't have wanted the father of my children to be 18. And I wouldn't want my 18 year old son to be be co-parenting with a women who has two other kids. Co-parenting is messy and stressful and fraught with challenges. Most 18 year olds are ill-equipped to deal with it - emotionally, practically or financially.

Do you really not understand that a sexual relationship is still a relationship? Do you really not understand that people can enter into purely sexual relationships but then catch feelings and that people in purely sexual relationships can still be hurt? Do you really not understand that a young person entering the world of sexual relationships may not have the maturity to deal with this as well as more experienced shaggers?

Literally wouldn't give a shit. What other people get up to is none of my business. Live and let live.

It honestly wouldn’t have bothered me @Sadtosaythis. But I’ve always believed age is just a number and other people’s sex lives are none of my business - even if I gave birth to them.

@blossomtoes and you would have been fine with this when they were only 18…. I wouldn’t. I think it’s gross.

People can and will judge....including other 18 year old lads.

I can imagine his mates having a good laugh with the one who got lucky for a night....I would hate to be that woman providing the laughs.

Whats that got to do with the age of the partner

Dont know

She might have had her kids at 18 for all anyone knows and was she emotionally ready? But in any case its just sex (according to OP). Just sex, friends with benefits. So its rather irrelevant whether he wants to become a father

When their kids hit 18, maybe some of those telling you it’s fine will see it differently!

Mine’s well past 18. 🤷‍♀️