Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Girlfriend has shown her hand!

344 replies

Ccooped1 · 18/11/2019 17:09

Hi, Im extremely sad and angry with myself over the position I have let myself get into. I am a single dad with custody of 3 young children (aged 4, 6, and 8 YO). I work full time and raise my children on my own and have done for the last 3.5 years. They are amazing and we work so well as a family unit - life couldn't be any better under the circumstances. I moved away from family for work several years ago so my nearest family member is 120 miles away... At present my children have not seen their mom for 19 months as she has moved away without any idea. I get zero support, of which I don't moan about as i'm fortunate to have a good job and be motivated to my children. They have everything children need, an extremely special bond with me, they are taught morals / values, have life experiences etc. Again I am lucky to be able to do this. I have got my head down over the initial 3 years on my own ensuring my children are in a good place emotionally after the disappearing act of mother.
I have just done the basics right, worked hard, renovated a house for us to grow old in, and been a dads taxi of course.

Anyway now the scene is set, I have a major issue. Over the last year I have been building a relationship with a girl who I thought was very caring and in a similar position to me would be a safe bet. We have been open about our situation, limited time we spent together and agreed on things like kids, marriage moving in together etc. It was clear that as she had 2 children and I have 3, that I did not want any more children as it just doesn't make sense obviously to me and I dont want to change nappies for ever! Anyway after being on the pill she is pregnant and basically told me to f off she is keeping it. I know we can all say you should have not listened to her and used a condom but it has been a year and i thought trust was there. My point of view is that I have been clear from day one and this is all against my consent. She already has 2 children off different dads and I am not judging by this but surely she wants solid foundations to void being in her current position again. She has told me that she is having it regardless of what I say. I know her kids dads are not the best so she wants a good dad but this is all wrong. She is not listening to me and everytime I try and talk calmly to her she goes off on one and i see a side I never once thought was there. I understand that there is nothing i can do so this message really is me venting off and hoping that someone can tell me they have had something similar or what on earth I am going to do. I would never ever walk away from a child so I will be there for it no matter what, with regards to the mother I cannot be false and this is betrayal and whilst I am not a nasty person I cannot move forward with a women like this. I feel such a fool!!

OP posts:
NemophilistRebel · 19/11/2019 10:13

Moomin - he hasn’t said anything like that

Moomin8 · 19/11/2019 10:14

The OP only has himself to blame for the way he comes across on this thread.... it's quite easy to see what kind of person he is.

Moomin8 · 19/11/2019 10:14

Anything like what?

NemophilistRebel · 19/11/2019 10:15

That indicated he had been coercive

Moomin8 · 19/11/2019 10:20

Well I disagree with that because he himself says that he tried to speak 'calmly' to her (with the intention to make her change her mind implied). And she told him to F off.

It reveals a lot about what's really going on here...

NemophilistRebel · 19/11/2019 10:27

I think there’s 2 sides to every story and at the moment going by op’s side I would say the woman has form and doesn’t sound very nice at all.

He talks calmly and she tells him to fuck off. If that’s true there’s no point in him even trying with her as she is just going to be abusive towards him.

If we heard her side of the story it may be different, but we haven’t

sue51 · 19/11/2019 10:27

In the OP's post there is nothing about the woman not taking the pill correctly. He sees this a contraceptive failure. Her refusing to have an abortion at his request is showing her hand according to him. Once again a woman not doing what a man wants and a load of other women on this thread supporting him. So depressing.

NemophilistRebel · 19/11/2019 10:34

No one is supporting him saying she should have an abortion.
That’s her decision only.
It doesn’t mean he can’t discuss his feelings with her on it and let her know that he doesn’t want to be a father again, which she knew about before hand so shouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t want to

Moomin8 · 19/11/2019 10:35

He talks calmly and she tells him to fuck off.

Yes well he's not going to say 'I had a go at her' is he 🙄

What's interesting is that he thinks he's painted himself in a good light. But if you actually look at what he has said the truth is somewhat different.

Moomin8 · 19/11/2019 10:37

The time to have a discussion about not wanting to be a father again is before conception occurs. Or, better still, don't use a woman and pretend you love her if you're just using her for sex.

sue51 · 19/11/2019 10:43

As I see it, it comes back to him not using a condom and then putting all the blame and responsibility on the woman. Abortion isn't an option for some women. I'm sure she's relishing being a single mother to 3 children. I can't imagine an easier life.

PurpleHoodie · 19/11/2019 10:58

"Contraception is not a woman’s job. It is a couple’s responsibility. You took absolutely none"

Perfectly put by CalleighDoodle

"As women have only a small window of oppurtunity each month to get pregnant and the average man is fertile 24 hours a day, the OP should have taken responsibility for his own fertility."

This from Sue51

And BIWIs first post.

dontalltalkatonce · 19/11/2019 12:59

Sexless, female sterilisation is not 100% contraception (ovaries are not removed in female sterilisation because this causes instant menopause which has major ramifications for the female body), either, the Mirena is statistically more effective than female sterilisation but the only thing that's 100% is not having sex.

It isn't major surgery, it's keyhole and the only thing I had to recover from was the anaesthetic

Plenty of people have a lot of pain from the gas used to inflate the abdomen. My SIL did, and she also developed scarring and adhesions. Two friends had ectopic pregnancies after tubal ligation resulting in major surgery.

And the point is that the woman in this setting obviously felt like the OP: she didn't want to be sterilised anymore than he did.

KaleidoscopeEyes · 19/11/2019 14:37

Can't be bothered to scroll back, but whichever PP said he should have been wary as she had dc by different fathers already... REALLY??

I have 2 dc by different dads. One was a marriage, the other a 9 year relationship. Please don't try to imply that I'm some kind of man-trapping slapper. Both children were planned, but the relationships didn't work out. Perhaps I should have stayed with them so that nobody accused me of being 2by2 🙄

KaleidoscopeEyes · 19/11/2019 14:39

And I've never claimed a penny in benefits either, before that one gets pulled out. I've always worked, and supported my dc. I needed to, tbh, so I could afford the clothes etc to go out and pull the next unsuspecting father Hmm

BIWI · 19/11/2019 14:56

Tell you what though, this is a fantastic thread for herding together all the MRA supporters.
If only there really were a spreadsheet ... Hmm

Moomin8 · 19/11/2019 15:08

Indeed, @BIWI

Ccooped1 · 19/11/2019 15:13

Hi, I throw my hands up here. I have made a thread, for the first time ever, and I should have took time to read and ensure it is well-rounded. I merely rattled something together quicker than you can say it. This was whilst I was really down and frustrated. It may not have come across as it should have as there is a whole lot more to this. For what it is worth I will elaborate.

I perhaps did talk a little high of myself, although its true and I am proud of the man I am. There is nothing wrong with this and considering I am down so what if I was looking for some positive words to get me through this difficult patch. Any man or women independently raising 3 kids whilst dealing with the emotional effects, working full time, running a house etc is something to be proud of. I think any normal decent person in my shoes would do the same, it is unfortunate that I am in this position and there is nothing I can do about it other than smile, roll my sleeves up and crack on – that’s life.

When I said safe bet about my girlfriend it was based on our positions. Single parents, appreciate each other’s situations and would complement each other’s current position.

My comment:
I didn't have a vasectomy as I'm still young, well early 30s and after a 10 year relationship i didn't want to conclude my ability to have more children. If I met the girl of my dreams I would do the honourable thing if it was right.
This was my view prior to meeting my girlfriend and I thought she was to be the girl of my dreams. We did speak about it but she wanted me to hold off in case we decided in the future. I made it clear that unless our circumstances changed I was not willing and this was very clear from the offset. I said if I could work part time or retire (lucky lotto ticket talk) then yes why wouldn’t I. I am a loyal guy and my ex-wife left me for another man of which she begged me back – betrayal for me is a point of no return so I am not playing a game or waiting for something else to come into my life. I am a simple guy and dream of someone to share it with that benefits both sides.

She has had 2 abortions prior to us being together of which she has been open with me about in the past. She currently is 5 weeks pregnant.

I offered to get a babysitter so we could go out and talk about it openly. Of which she has told me to F off again.

When she informed me she said if she don’t keep it the relationship is over this was before I had chance to say a single word.

Since she has threatened to tell my kids that I want to kill their baby brother or sister.

I cannot reason with this as its all aggression and her decision is made.

She wanted us to move in together. I am ready to move forward. She hates certain things about her life. I said she could move in when we are both in a good position and there are no peripheral things that could cause issues. Some of these are one of her kids is very aggressive and she said she would go to the doctor to get some advice and/or tests for anything that could be triggering it. She hates her job, when she goes of course, 2 days a week. She has sickness every month as she gets benefits. I have offered advice and support on things we agreed to sort before we moved in together and well nothing has happened whatsoever. Understand in my position you have to be a doer and get into the issue to move forward. Financially I get no help and I made it clear that with my mortgage etc we would both have to work to maintain kids lifestyles. Nothing changed on her side and that is her choice not mine.

I appreciate that I should have used a condom, however I was naive. I will have to live with this.

I have concluded that I cannot work this out to be a parent together so I will offer support, but once the baby is born I will want shared care or enough to have a major influence on child growing up.

I will struggle in how to approach this with my children as its not a good conversation to have and questions will be asked.

I would say that some people on here are just looking to throw knifes and I would say that whilst you can only judge on what’s in front of you I would air on the side of caution as if I was vulnerable or not in a good place then some of these comments would really affect someone.

I also want to thank a couple of you that have gone out of your way to offer some kind words as a private message. It helped me sleep last night to know some people aren’t quick to reach for the gun.

OP posts:
Moomin8 · 19/11/2019 15:20

For her sake, don't move on with her.

Moomin8 · 19/11/2019 15:20

*in

BIWI · 19/11/2019 15:21

... and still nothing about how this baby was conceived or how your partner felt when she discovered she was pregnant

Moomin8 · 19/11/2019 15:25

Yeah, a few carefully constructed attempts to throw shade at this woman yet again though.

FavouriteSoul · 19/11/2019 15:29

I'd love to hear this story from her point of view.

sue51 · 19/11/2019 15:39

Knowing she has had 2 past abortions, you still thought you would leave contraception entirely up to her. She is raising 2 children on her own with a long term health condition (I presume that's what you mean when you say she has sickness ) and it looks like she is prepared to do this for a third. One of her children has behavioural issues. Her life sounds tough and is about to get tougher. Maybe stop being sorry for yourself and think how best to support her and the new baby.

PanGalaticGargleBlaster · 19/11/2019 15:42

I wish people would stop talking about getting a vasectomy as if it is as easy as buying a tin of beans.

Swipe left for the next trending thread