My only child turned 18...feel bereft.

[malificent7]

Only now do I want more children! For lots of reasons I stuck wirh only one child. I had dd as a single mum, I wasn't rich, it was a struggle.
Even when I met my fabulous dh I only gad a fleeting desire to have more dc as he had his own dd and felt it would be best for our girls not to introduce more into the mix. .
However dd has just turned 18 and I wish i'd had more dc. Anyone else felt similar? I guess im grieving what might have been.

I feel like this and I’ve got five. I do sympathise but I hope and pray it’s a stage that I will get through. I hope you feel better soon OP.

Your child will always be your child no matter how old they are. Don’t look back look forward, each age brings it own benefits. My only Ds is almost 21 and I am super proud of the young man he is and the relationship we have; things have certainly got better with age. I certainly don’t feel bereft, I feel happy about what he has become and what is yet to come for him.

I could not have coped with 5 but fair play to you fiveofthem! I know i did the right thing..
I am excited for her furure but also feel theempty nest. Shes only gone aaau for 3 weks...it will be practice for uni.

Mine turns 18 in a month and heads off to uni in September. Like you, I am so excited for his future, he has done so well, but I'm not sure how I will feel.
I stayed a single.mum, so my house is going to feel very empty.
It will be time for me to look for new relationships. Time to concentrate on me.

Away*
Weeks*

It is a very rewarding feeling when they become a young adult...my life's greatest achievement!

My only child was 21 in May and I turned 40 2 days after.
i always wanted more children,
it was tough being young and not ready financially or emotionally.
I really wanted another child after we paid off our mortgage,
there was always a reason not too,
and although I know 40s not too old.
I just know it’s not the right time for me now.,
I was living with grief a long time,
now I’m just trying to focus on the future, because I can’t change the past and it’s steeling my happiness.
I’m trying to move forward now, hope you find peace

@Mazz1986

I'm an only child. I suffered a lot after losing my father a few years ago. Then, at the beginning of this year, my mother became pregnant. After a lifetime as an only child, I still think about it, it still moves me. But this experience opened my heart: it helped me see her partner no longer as a stranger, but as a second father. And today I just want to tell her: Mum, it's never too late.

I totally understand how you feel. My only DS is 18 and it is a bittersweet feeling.

It's a sort of grief them leaving childhood and becoming an adult.

I guess we have to think about the things that we would like to do