Anyone with cohabiting parents (ie unmarried)?

[Bucketsofdynomite]

The Why Not Get Married? thread is quite common on MN but I've never noticed anyone saying their parents weren't married or didn't get married until later.
Just wondering what sort of proportions there are esp over the different times eg how old are you? Did you feel any difference? Do you think marriage would have split them up? Are they still together? Does it affect the way you feel about marriage? Just nosy really.

My parents aren't married. I didn't know until I was 16. My mum has my dads surname & she always wore wedding & engagement rings, so never had any reason to think they weren't married until one day it kind of popped out. (She thought I already knew )

I'm 27, my brother would be 31 now if he was still alive. My mum was never divorced from my brothers dad (my brother is 42), so I guess that's one of the reasons that they never married.

It obviously never bothered me growing up as I didn't know, although when I found out, it felt strange to begin with, like I didn't have a 'normal' family.

They get on brilliantly now, although I think that coincided with me moving out. Always kissing & holding hands (yuk!).

And no, it hasn't changed my view of marriage. I would love a big huge wedding, have it all planned out, but ultimately if DP & I don't marry it's no big deal.

My dad announced he was leaving my mum just before I was born - they'd been married 8 years since she was 17, he 21. My dad also left his 2nd and 3rd wives, and now lives with someone else. My mum's 2nd marriage lasted 16 years, both my mum and stepdad are now married for the 3rd time. I think my mum's pretty happy with 3rd husband and it's worked out well in the end for everyone.

My dad's son from his 2nd marriage got married nearly 9 years ago, my sister from the same marriage is doing so this summer. I've been living with my partner for effectively 9 years, we moved in properly together November 1998 but we were really pretty much living together within a few weeks of getting together in Feb that year. I think it has affected the way I feel about marriage but my siblings seem to have grown up with different views.

I don't know if my brother and sister on my mum's side will decide to marry, Gareth lives with his girlfriend, and Sian doesn't with her boyfriend but I think if they both get jobs which make it easier (they're both studying at the moment) that might change.

My mum's husband's two older kids are not only married, they've opted for church weddings which no one in my family has done yet...

Oh, and my mum's older sister has cohabited after her first marriage at 18 broke up (3 kids), three long term relationships, and a child born in 1977(her 4th) from the 2nd of those.

Hey, me and my DH got together Jan 1998, nearly 10yrs isn't it?! 9yrs since Rockerfeller Skank was everywhere you went.