I do feel fed up. I'm not depressed, so perhaps I shouldn't have posted here, but this is where I'm at. My ex-husband has just told me his girlfriend is pregnant. Obviously they are delighted and I have duly said congratulations. I don't feel emotional about it but I do feel quite irritated, possibly not rationally because of where it takes my children (3 children) and because I look occasionally at the step parenting topic, and most (not all) of the comments about birth mothers are extremely negative. I feel like I'm not "permitted" to have a point of view (or I am a resentful bitch) and basically unless I say oh that's absolutely wonderful, how delightful, don't worry about maintenance for a year or two, then I will be judged as having difficulty "coming to terms with it". In other words I feel like a second class citizen a lot of the time. I am not in a relationship, because I am not prepared to settle for the wrong relationship, and because the right one has simply not come along. If it does, that's great, but I doubt that is likely. I would value opinions of other mothers, including step-mothers please, but particularly those who understand where I am at