What age did you get engaged, married and have kids?

[Benny91]

As I feel life is too short and I’m just throwing my life away. Me and my girlfriend are 33 and have just bought a house and are yet to get engaged, married and have kids. But because the cost of everything else we’ve just saved up for a house and have thought about the said stuff to a later time. But as said we both feel it’s a ticking time bomb to have marriage and kids, because for a woman after 35 it’s gets harder to have children. We’ve been together since 26, but all of this cost of living has made our lives a bit further behind than we’d like to be.

Anyone else in a similar situation?

I assume you’re a man? If so, get cracking with a proposal, mate! If you feel like is too short and time is marching on (with fertility possibly an issue) then pull your finger out and get on with it! I bet she’d be thrilled with a proposal. You don’t need to spend a fortune on a wedding! You could be married and pregnant within a year and you’ll make it work, financially. Everyone else does!

32 engaged, 33 married, 33 DC1, 34 DC2

No engagement. Married 23. 1st baby 24, second 25

house 20 ( lost my mum young)
engaged 21
married 21
dd 21
ds1 23
ds2 26
I'm 34 now

Bought flat and engaged 36, married 37, first child 38, second 41.
If you want kids start trying now, it can take longer than you think post-35.

Together since we met at university age 21, married at 28. Kids at 33, 35 and 40. Now 56. Just starting to formulate a 5yr plan for when our youngest finishes university. This includes selling our expensive house in an expensive area, buying something smaller near the coast and travelling. But…we will be in our 60s by then and whilst I hope we have many happy and healthy years together still, we just don’t know what the future holds. We put off having kids (mainly my decision) because we wanted to be financially secure and professionally stable. With hindsight, we should have done it 5yrs earlier. We didn’t have trouble conceiving, even at 40, but that’s not the only reason to go for it earlier IMO.

Met when I was 25. Both had our own properties at that time. Sold up and bought together at 28. Had a child at 43.

Not married but will have to before April next year due to IHT changes impacting pensions.

Engaged 29, married 30, kids 33 and 35. I got my first house at 22.

Engaged at 24. Married at 24. Unable to have kids, leading to divorce at 35. He remained my carer for four more years, while his second wife is stringing him along until her fertility runs out because he desperately wants a child and she doesn’t. I re-married for the second and final time at 40. If this doesn’t last for life, I have no intention of marrying a man again. A woman might be a possibility, but men would be over for me. My female best friend and I would probably just have a proper “Boston marriage.”

Met DH at 23, moved in together at 24, engaged at 25, married at 27, bought first house at 28, first baby at 29, second one at 30. (Just under a year and a half between them.)

This was the second half of the 1980s, and first half of the 1990s. Our first house was £33,000 (oh good times!) A small-ish 2 bed semi with quite a large garden and a garage, in a nice area. (Was early 1990s and the house was built in 1981.) That same house sold in 2025 for £255,000! 😱

I know it's hard for young people now though. Much harder to buy a house than it was in the 1990s.

Never got engaged, married at 20, had DS at 21, and DD at 23.

Bought our house aged 22, had a child aged 29. No engagement or marriage (mutual agreement). I agree with posters if you really want to be married do it & do it at a low cost, it always surprises me how much people spend on weddings, put the money towards the mortgage or in a pot for maternity leave.

Engaged at 22, bought house at 22, dc1 at 23, dc2 at 24, married at 28, dc 3 at 37.

Honestly, dont spend a fortune on a wedding day - its not worth it.

I first got engaged at 24, that didn’t last very long. Then met my first husband and got engaged at 27 and married at 29, divorced at 31. Met my now fiancé at 32 engaged and had DC at 34.

I do feel like I did a lot of box ticking in my 20’s trying to reach same milestones as others and as a result made poor choices. I have since done a lot of work on myself around this.

Popping back on to say, we didn't have an engagement as such. We already had a house and two dc together by the time we got married. And had been together 11 years by then.

Married, and first child at 18, second at 21. Too young, yet 60 years later, here we are!

Met aged 22
Engaged aged 27
Married and bought house aged 32
Child aged 37

We just wanted to have fun whilst young and establishing our respective careers, so our first 10 years together were basically all about holidays, days out, etc., i.e. work hard, play hard, but we were saving like made for a house deposit in the background. Then first few years of marriage were doing up the house, plateauing in our careers, so we were ready/established for a child.

I’m 36.

Got engaged at 36.

Engaged at 20, married at 20, graduated from university at 21, one and only child at 30. Coming up to 26 years married. No home ownership unfortunately. We rent.

Engaged - married - 2 kids
Age 23-29 for that stuff

But I feel as though I come from a different era. You could get near 100% mortgage in my day, our little starter home (just over 100k) was easily mortgageable on 2 ordinary salaries.

It’s much tougher these days and I don’t know what the answer is. I think parents will have to downsize and start dishing out major financial assistance and major childcare assistance. So the people with parents able/willing to do that will be the ones on the property ladder first.

Oh yy

28, 29 and 32 for first marriage
not really engaged, 56 for second marriage

I meant oh yes I meant to add that we spent less than 100 on reg office wedding. We did live very frugally when we bought our house young. No clothes bought, no holidays, no stuff like that.

Met my now husband when I was 30, had our first child at 35, married at 37 and had our second child at nearly 40. We bought our first house together when I was 45. I don’t think you have to do things in a certain order and if having children is important to you then I would prioritise that, the rest can wait.

Engaged 22
Married 23
Bought first home 23
First child 28, second 29