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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

If you met your Dh in your teens

269 replies

Oldabondonedswings · 13/10/2023 14:23

Are you still together? How is life now?
I met Dh at 17, looking back we were just babies, 45 now…interested to see if anyone is in a similar situation.
Did your relationship last?

OP posts:
43ontherocksporfavor · 13/10/2023 16:36

DH was 19 and I was 20. Married 27 years and couldn’t be happier.

BristolBlueGlasses · 13/10/2023 16:37

We met at school and are still happily together 40 years on.

StuntNun · 13/10/2023 16:40

Met at 18, engaged at 20, married at 22, celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary next month.

TheSingingBean · 13/10/2023 16:41

Met when 16 and 14 (I'm older) and together since 17 / 15.

Now 61 and 59, married 39 years.

No regrets, I love that we've been together so long and shared so much of our lives. Dreading that one will almost certainly have to go on without the other one day.

That said, I imagine the odds are stacked against teenage relationships surviving that long. You've got a lot of growing up to do when you get together so young. Luckily for us we did it together and though we've both changed we've managed to make it work. He's my best friend and I'd rather spend a day with him than anyone else.

WinterNightStars · 13/10/2023 16:41

I was 18, DH 19. Together 33 yrs, married 29yrs. Very happy 😊

MyDogsPaws · 13/10/2023 16:41

I met my long term partner at 19, he was 30. We split after 16 years and 3 kids. By then we had completely grown apart, unsurprisingly I’m an entirely different person to who I was at 19 whereas is still the same person he was at 30. It was one of the biggest mistakes I could have made with my life, if I could go back I wouldn’t do it again!

ToussaintTheChef · 13/10/2023 16:42

Was 18. Still happily married 20 years on.

43ontherocksporfavor · 13/10/2023 16:43

RE your update OP, I did have a couple of boyfriends before DH but just knew when I met him that he ticked all the boxes and I was right. He’s been a great husband and father. DC are now adult and thank god we still feel the same as we are getting time back for ourselves like it was before the DC.

Cablescablescables · 13/10/2023 16:44

Childhood sweethearts here ♥️ met at school aged 12!

Ejismyf · 13/10/2023 16:45

Met at 15, things were pretty volatile. Had our youngest then split up early 20s. Got back together a couple years later and been back together over 16 years and very happily married with more children, own business and have been very successful. To be honest the break apart was the best thing we done as it let us experience being with different people and realise we loved each other and made us have a far better relationship now.

Rubyupbeat · 13/10/2023 16:46

Together since 17 and 18, 58 and 59 now.
Truthfully not one regret.

SingingSands · 13/10/2023 16:49

I was 18 and he was 21. Met at uni in 1996.

Still going strong, as have many of our friends who met at the same time.

I think we grew up together. I sincerely hope we grow old together.

whiteroseredrose · 13/10/2023 16:54

Not me but my sister. Met her (now) DH at school when they were 11. Started dating at 16 and still happy - married with 2 DC at nearly 40.

Actually, same for her cousin. Met at school and still happily together.

HopefulElle · 13/10/2023 16:56

Met at 14, got together at 15, still together (& married) at 35. I love that we’ve spent so much of our lives together and know each other inside out. Very happily married and wouldn’t change him for the world.
I do think odds are very much stacked against teenage romances lasting, though. I don’t know any other couples in real life that got together so young and are still together now. You change so much in your 20s, we’re just lucky that we grew together rather than apart.

Mothership4two · 13/10/2023 16:57

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Liloandswitch · 13/10/2023 16:58

Motomum23 · 13/10/2023 14:24

Yes met DH at 17 - now 37 - been married 17 years in December with 4 kids. More in love than ever if that's possible. There's also a 26 year age gap between us.

Wtf

GuitarGeorge · 13/10/2023 17:01

still together 30 odd years later but only because it’s too difficult to separate.

we were too young and have changed so much since then. Grown up and grown apart.

purpletrees16 · 13/10/2023 17:16

Met at 12. Friends from 15. We didn’t date until we were 19 though. Still together at 35. Married for 6 years (we saved up.) There’s 11 months between us.

Whisperingangel1 · 13/10/2023 17:55

Found this thread so interesting and a topic that's often played on my mind. Really lovely to hear such heartwarming tales of love that lasted. I was head over heels in love in a relationship when I was 17. Lasted for 3 years, he wanted to get married but I broke it off because I wanted to pursue my childhood dream of being a fashion designer. The heart break was the worst I've ever felt & I've often thought of him. Now I'm married with kids and I'm happy. But I often thought about it. I went on to have a successful career as a fashion designer & lived my life exactly how I imagined it to be. I don't think I'd be who I am now if I had stayed with him or travelled/had the career I've had. I've often wondered if those that stayed with their childhood loves ever had those regrets? Or if life was more simpler by not moving away from your home town? As in you don't have anything to compare it with so you're happy with what you have? Or are things easier because you've grown together?

ObsessedWithZach · 13/10/2023 18:02

I don't think I'd be who I am now if I had stayed with him or travelled/had the career I've had. I've often wondered if those that stayed with their childhood loves ever had those regrets? Or if life was more simpler by not moving away from your home town? As in you don't have anything to compare it with so you're happy with what you have? Or are things easier because you've grown together?

Confused

We've been together since we were 19. We didn't stay in our home town or even home country. We travelled together in uni breaks and after uni.

Mothership4two · 13/10/2023 18:04

I would love to still be in my home town @Whisperingangel1 but we had to move around a lot.

StasisMom · 13/10/2023 18:11

No and yes. We met when I was 18 and at university, he was a year older. Got married, had a baby, got divorced. 5 years later, got back together, had another baby, got married.

HopefulElle · 13/10/2023 18:14

@Whisperingangel1 we didn’t stay in our home town, both went to different unis and then worked in different cities for a while. We did long distance for 6/7 years.
I think it’s only natural to wonder about the different paths life could have taken. True I don’t have another long term relationship of my own to compare it to, but I don’t feel like I need that to know that I’m truly happy.

DollyDaisyDo · 13/10/2023 18:16

Met at 18 at Uni, started going out at 20 and 38 years later, married with 2DC.

Splitscreened · 13/10/2023 18:17

Oldabondonedswings · 13/10/2023 14:29

Does anyone regret/feel curious about not having any/many other relationships and sexual partners?
I often if it’s not the greatest thing I’m the world that I’ve never had to be truly independent, never had to live alone for example or face life alone

But that’s specific to your decisions within that relationship, not to the age you were when you met. We met and got together at 19, and still together at 51 with a child, but I’ve absolutely lived independently and alone — we’ve both studied separately in different countries for periods of time, I spent nearly a decade in a job where I spent six months of the years overseas, we both travel a lot for work. To me, giving someone space to develop along their own lines within a couple is crucial if you’re not to lead a much more cramped life than you would have done otherwise.