Has anyone stayed with their partner from a young age?

[Sydney97]

Hi all, so i'm 22 and have been with my boyfriend for 7 years now.

Many people ask me if I'm bothered that I have missed out on the 'young single life' and if I feel that I am missing out by being with one boy for so long (the answer is no, I'm happy with him)

But I just wonder if there is anyone out there who has been with a boy from a young age and if it did or didn't work out? I'm interested to know other peoples experiences/stories :)

Started dating my hubby at 17, married at 21. Still together at 27 with 2 kiddies 🙋

10 years together now and it's still amazing. I hated being single 😬

I've been with DH for 18 years. We got together when I was 15. No regrets at all, we are very happy ❤️

Me and dp have been together since we were 17 & 19. We're now 32 & 34. 2 dogs, 2 cats, 5 house moves, 3 career changes, travelled the world, and 2 DC later, and we're as happy as we were as loved up teens! I wouldn't want to raise a family and share my life with anyone else. I remember being told "it won't last" as he was off to Uni at the start of our relationship, but we made it work. I couldn't imagine anything worse than a drunken one night stand which is all my single friends seemed to do in their early 20's, and the only thing I could imagine I could have been "missing out on"... Didn't seem like a great loss 😄!

I agree with furious, that most people are continuing to grow / change / develop quite considerably up until they get to about 25 (I mean, we all continue to change and develop all of our lives, but it is at a far greater rate, the younger you are). So the odds of you both changing and developing in the same way and at the same rate are stacked against you.

That said, I have friends who celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary last year. As mere youngsters of 90 and 91 at the time (she had her 90th in the same week), they must have got together quite young and it seems to have worked out well for them

Depends if you are interested in anecdotes or statistical data I suppose.

Got together with my DH at 18, just turned 40 now and still together.

Love him to bits still but although I would never go as far as regretting it, I met him 10 weeks into my first year of uni and I do think it would have been nice to have had a couple more terms of being young free and single first!

He's awesome though, I wouldn't change it!

My Mum and Dad have just had their 60th wedding anniversary, they started going out at 16 but have known each other all their lives.

I only know one couple who were together from a young age who seem really happy.

I know a few more who stayed together, or after a lot of on/off type nonsense ended up back together but don't seem to really have great relationships. If anything I think being together from such a young age through the growing up years leads to a weird dependence on the other person that's stronger than if the relationship had began at a later age.
In my opinion I think the guys in particular can't stand the thought of her being with another man, so that's why they stay together or get back together even though they don't seem that happy at all. They're just used to each other.

So although there are definitely some who stay together, I wouldn't consider any that I know except for one couple to seem in love, and the rest of them seem to share the same kind of relationship dynamic.

I split with my ex when I was 27 or so after being with him since 16 and knew 3 other couples who split after a similar length of time together. It seems to be the women who make the split for good during late 20's or early 30's and when they split they mean it!

Of course there are going to be a lot of exceptions etc. but these are my observations on it!

I was 17. 48 now. DH is 7 years older than me. Been together 31 years. Married 26 and have 4 children. 21 18 10 and 8.

I was 14 when I met DH 16 I’m now 35..... happily married with 3 children

We got together 20 years ago, aged 16. I have never regretted getting together young and don’t feel I’ve missed out.

We met at the local Youth Club when I was 15 and he was 17. Still happy today and I'm 63 now! Married at 19 and two children who are now 40 and 41. Usual ups and downs of family life (lack of money, illness etc) but have always been devoted to each other and kept our own interests as well as shared ones. Your attitude is sound OP app hang in there and trust your gut feelings!

Met when we were both 21 - now both 46!

25th Anniversary in a weeks time and we're in the process of dealing with the aftermath of her 5 year affair - tried to work through and reconnect but not looking good.

I would like to offer a slightly different story. I met my husband at 30, so not young at all, so I guess I did have a longish single life. But during those years, I didn't hook up/have one night stands, date heaps of guys, attend drug fueled orgys, etc. Not because I'm against it, it just didn't happen. I had fun sure, but things like travelling and nights out with friends - the type of fun you have partnered or single.

So just offering the perspective that being single doesn't always equal a new hookup each week and a crazy party lifestyle, if that's what people are saying you are missing out on. Most single people in their 20s probably have a really similar life to what you have.

Yes. Dh and I got together in highschool. We've been together almost 20 years now.

I was 15, he was 16. We were together for a year, split up for a year, got back together and next month it’ll be 35 years since we first got together.
We’ll have been married for 21 years in November.

I met DH at 18. I recently met a couple who had been together since they were 14. Sweetest couple ever.

I was 15, now 66.
He was19 now 69.
Still loved up.

I met my dh when he was 21 (I think that’s quite young). I was 27, so I’m older. I was his first serious relationship. Quite happily married and with 2 dc now. He wasn’t exactly the type to want to play the field though and I think what little he did do before he met me was probably plenty. Most of his friends were in serious relationships at that point (they’re all now married to their partners as well with dc - we are mid/late 30s now).

That said, I think it depends on the sort of person you are and what you want in life. I am definitely not the same person I was at that age and my life would have turned out disastrously if I’d married the bf I had in my late teens/early 20s. I really appreciated having the time to be free and single and live the sort of life I couldn’t have lived if I was tied to a serious relationship. Everyone is different though.

I was with my first boyfriend from 14 to 18 and a bit. Thankfully never tried to influence me not to go away to university. Then again from 21 to 23.

I realised many years later that I did miss out on so much. I had friends in school but of course most of my time was taken up out of school seeing my boyfriend. I do now regret not seeing friends and making those connections stronger during those key years.

I met my DH at 23 and still married 30 years later, but I’d always made sure I maintained friendships with my girlfriends throughout these years too.

Mum and dad since 19 - now in their 70s

I’ve been with DH since 21 - now nearly 50

We were 17 and 26 when we got together - he wasn't my first relationship though I had been in a too grown up for my age relationship with a 23/24 year old for 18 months when I was 15/16.
My first relationship showed me how an unequal partnership works and forced me to grow up quickly, and deal with things a 15 year old shouldn't.
So when I met DH I knew what I needed and could stand my ground like a much older woman. We have been together nearly 20yrs I don't regret a thing.
I hated the 6 months of going out, single life, that I had at 17. Even at that age I just wanted to be settled.

Never experiencing romantic heartbreak
Never experiencing being properly alone free and independent in the world living life on your own terms
Never having more than one adult relationship - only knowing one person sexually and emotionally

Stifling. I know three couples who met at school one have a healthy relationship the others really don’t

Met DH when I was 18 and he was 21. Now 52 and 55, and still very happy. It just clicked and worked out great

My neighbours have been together since thery were 16, they are the most boring couple I ever met. I think that happens, but couples often don’t even realise.

My parents married when my mum was 18 and my dad 20. They dated for a while four years previously, but broke up as they succumbed to the 'you're too young' peer pressure.

My mum's 68 now and my dad has just turned 70, and still very much together.