To ask how long does it take to meet someone and have a baby?

[WhereDoesThisRoadGo]

This is going to seem like a ridiculous question, which I acknowledge, bit hope you forgive me because we cannot be rational all the time. I am worrying a lot that, at 33, I am no closer to having a child than I was at 23. And I am just getting older. I am single and do not have anyone in the pipeline who wants children one day. Please share your stories of time between met - engaged - married - baby (or met - baby) to help me work out what my cut off needs to be for giving up going it alone.

Met Dec 2005, living together Feb 06, pregnant with first child nov06 born august 07, engaged September 08, pregnant September 09 born June 2010 pregnant June 2012 married Aug 2012 baby 3 born march 2013 . Together a very happy 11 years and I honestly just knew after a few failed relationships that he was the one , as corny as that sounds ! There's a 9 year age gap between us and we didn't want to hang around , we both knew what we wanted and that we wanted it with each other x

As you can tell from the replies, time scales are different for everyone! Some people get pregnant first month of trying and other take longer. Some relationships take longer to consolidate than others, partners who are more or less keen etc. In our case, met DH first time in 2011, became a couple at the end of that year. Got married and had DD in 2014, expecting DD2 in June '17. I'm 24, he's 32 x

I met my dh when I was 33, we married 18 months later just before my 35th birthday, had ds just after my 36th birthday and dtd's just before my 39th birthday. Fell pregnant quite quickly both times. DS is going to be 10 this year, DTs are 7. I'm a firm believer in if its meant to be it will be.

I assume that you are hoping for a short timescale (I haven't read most of the chain), but I met my husband at 19, married him at 23 and had our one and only daughter when I was 40! Not the traditional "shot gun" type thing :-) On the other hand my sister met her husband and 2 years later had her first baby.

Met DH at 27, married by 31, first DC at 33, second at 37. I 'wasted' six years with someone in my early 20s who I wasn't sure about. I remember saying to my mum that you should know someone for 10 years before you get married - just be sure. I decided after 1 year I wanted to marry DH and have his babies. I think it depends on the person and the circumstances. I do think ideally you shouldn't decide to marry before you have known each other for 2 years - until then you can just about get away with being on best behaviour and not really 'know' each other.

Met DH in December 2011, moved in with DH in June 2012, we got engaged in October 2012, we got married in October 2015, our DC1 is due December 2017.

I used to feel like that after being in a relationship throughout my 20s which ended. I met my now husband at 31, moved in together within 6 months and four years later we are married with a 7 month old. It's such a cliche but I was having the time of my life in the year I was single before I met DH so it happened when I wasn't looking.

I was 33 when I had my first we had been together 11 years but only trying for a month or two.
I was 42 when met my 2nd partner and we met in the January and I was pregnant in the April. Very quick I know 43 when I had her

well i met my bf 14 months before the birth of our child. i do not recommend this approach!. i was approaching 30 when i found out i was pregnant (unplanned, obviously), examined my options and decided i might as well seize the opportunity due to age etc. i don't regret my son but my relationship is definitely not strong enough to bear this kind of load and i don't know what the future holds for DP and I when the novelty wears off. not saying it's not possible of course i just feel that in my case my dp was a bit of an impulse buy motivated by loneliness, fear etc

@UpsyDaisy123, that was me and yes i did post on this thread :)

i would always advise getting fertility checked if know def want kids

yes i got my happy ending but many dont

i feel blessed that finally im blessed as a mummy

I met my first boyfriend the January, I was 16 turning 17 April fell pregnant October fast forward 10 years engaged, another baby, married and another baby on route

Wow, I went away for a couple of days and return to 388 replies.

Thank you all so much for your kind words and helpful suggestions. It is good to know that my age is not hugely against me. And as many have suggested, I am determined to meet the right person not just anyone. I am certainly not in any mad rush nor feeling as though I have been left on the shelf.

Circumstances that have seen me caring for a family member have simply dictated that I haven't been able to put much into relationships over the past 8 years, but I am now in a position to. But I want to spend some time over the next 6 months getting more settled again and taking better care of myself. And losing about 4 stone if possible! Another thread for another day...

Good luck WhereDoesThisRoadGo. Sometimes these things happen when you least expect it so go out and enjoy yourself

Met DH at 27, got married at 33. Now I'm 38 and we've accepted that a baby isn't going to happen for us after trying for 10 years and three rounds of IVF. Luckily I did have a dc as a single mum before I ever met DH. I'd get fertility tests done if you definitely want dc in the future (although we've had them done and there's nothing at all to explain our infertility, so they can lure you into a false sense of security).

Sounds like you're in a good place now OP - enjoy the well-earned 'you' time. My story was similar to yours and when I was least expecting it, I got together casually with a chap I knew through work. We were both 36 and went from zero to head over heels in love in a matter of days.

We moved in together 9 months later and bought a dog for our first anniversary.On our second anniversary we found out I was pregnant! So DD1 was born when I was 39 and we were blessed by the arrival of DD2 9 months ago. I am now 44 and as happy as I could be. Good luck to you

It can be really fast or really slow. My neighbours both knew they wanted children and met on a dating site with this in their profiles. Up front from the start and pregnant within a year. Their dd is 9 now and they're happy.

For me, I had a 6 year relationship where we never quite managed to get round to children although we wanted to, and I am now with my dp and we had our dd within 2 years of being together.

Some women travel to Denmark where they can become single mothers because Denmark takes a different view on these things. If you want to have the baby first you can contact these clinics straight away. I've read about it in newspapers. I don't remember any details though.

Met 2002, married 2005, baby 2011

Met in Summer 2014, got together that Autumn, moved in together January 2015, pregnant March 2015 - still together now. I don't think there's a set timescale for such things.

Met partner at 17, he was 20, engaged 6 months later and pregnant in the first year. 7 years on and happy

I'm feeling very down about this
I am 38 left a 10 year relationship last year
Just feel like I will never meet someone and have the family I've always longed for.
Feeling very sad about it all, everyone I know seems to have managed it, even the people that were a bit meh about it all.
Tried old. But I'm clearly not ready and I worry by the time I am it will be too late

Justbreathing... hang in there. It is scary leaving long relationships that you have invested so much into. But your time will come and the more you do for you right now, the better the person you meet will be.

Thank you! It's just bad days and the odd good day. And the same to you. hopefully life will improve xx

Justbreathing I left my previous DP after 14 years, I was 34, no children and felt just like you do.

I met my current DP when I was 36 and had my DD1 at 42 and DD2 at 43 :)