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 :)

@madeofstarlight I agree some of these age gaps are gross.

Sorry meant to tag @Herewego93

Nope. Had loads of boyfriends by mid twenties.
Finally got married at 48 after being with DH for 10 years.

Have to say I can't imagine marrying any of my previous boyfriends, mostly because we've all grown up and are very different people now.

Stay with someone if it makes you happy but don't stay just because you've invested lots of time in the relationship.

We were 19, been together 24 years married for 4 years and have 4 DC.

Met DH at 15, he was 17.

I am now 36 and we are married with 2 DCs.

However, we did have a 2 year break in our early 20s, it made us realise that what we had was good and that the grass definitely isn't greener on the other side!

Been with my husband since 1957 when I was sixteen and he was seventeen. Married when I was 18 but nearly 19. We will have been married 60 years next June ( if we make it). If you are both happy stick with it and ignore others.

We met at 17 and 21 and celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary next week , it's going ok so far

We were together from 19-42. Just separated and it’s very hard after growing up together and never knowing anything else. But, yes, it can hold you back from experiencing things too

I started dating my DH at 16.
Married at 19.
I’m 24 now and expecting our DC3.

I don’t feel like I missed out on being “young, free and single”

Met my DC father at school we were together 28 years. 3 DC. But split up 6 years ago. Still would change it as I had 3 lovely DC

From what I’ve seen and experienced men in relationships from a very young age often have a panic at middle age. A generalisation definitely but it doesn’t seem so common for women to leave in these instances

Been together since we were 16 but known each other years before, now in our late 20s.

Honestly? Sometimes I do feel weve both missed out. I've never slept with anyone else, for example. Uni sucked because I spent so much of it pining for him while he was at another uni miles away. That's not to say that I would trade it in for a more conventional teenagehood, but just that I dont really 100% see myself represented in the responses that say 'yes it's perfect, no regrets, very happy etc'. I love my husband and would never leave him but marriage isnt all about the good times, sometimes it's about recognising the feelings of wistfulness at what might have been, no matter how short lived or unlikely, and acknowledging those feelings and going back to remind yourself of why you chose the life you have.

I had a baby last year, the first and only so far in our frienship group, so those feelings of 'what if'(what if I could still go out drinking, what if I was still an attractive thin single person, etc) have been cropping up more recently. But i speak to my husband about them and i love the team we are and how well we know each other. There's honestly no one else in the world who knows me like he does. He's known every version of me since we were young and that's a pretty special thing to share.

I have been with DH since I was 18 now 26.
We were both each other's first girlfriend/boyfriend and now been happily married for 3 years :)

My sister and her partner got together when they were 16. They’ve been together 25 years!

Got together at 20, had our first child at 21, were blissfully happy until he passed away last year at the age of 48.

We were 18, 55 now, still get along great, have a laugh and enjoy each other's company.

I was 17, he was 23, I’m approaching 40 now, 2 grown children. We love our life together, we get to travel, go on dates, have cosy nights in when the house is empty. We run a business and work together everyday which is tough (especially in the climate at the moment) but support each other and make sure we have lots of non work time. I can’t imagine not being with him.

One of my dc describes us as intertwined.

Lovome of the above story’s.

@Hadjab that’s so sad, I can’t imagine. I’m glad you had so many happy years together and send my love for your future.

Started dating at 17 married at 19 and nit long celebrated our thirtieth wedding anniversary. Been through everything together and still find each other attractive. Never could, or want to, imagine being with someone else.

I've been with my husband since I was 18. I'm now 35. So we've been together for 17 years.
I had lots of fun between the ages of 16 and 18 so I was happy to have a serious boyfriend from 18. I love the fact that we have been together so long and that we have shared our entire adult lives together. I couldn't imagine being with anyone else.
We have shared many highs and lows together, had 2 kids, and my husband has done very well in his career.

Its not all as perfect as it sounds, as he has his bad points, so do I. He gets on my nerves and sometimes I wish I was on my own. But I never wish to be with another man

@Gigis I recognise what you're saying at the point of life you're in now. I remember having more of those thoughts when we were at the baby stage, it was hard being the first to have children in so many ways and I had PND. It was definitely the most challenging time of our relationship (he has a job that takes him away too so coupled with that and PND it was a tough time). But now the kids are school age I very, very rarely have thoughts like that, I am very confident at my life choices and reflect on how lucky we are and what we have gained rather that what we didn't have? Life ebbs and flows though and perhaps at another point in our lives I will be a bit more wistful, but feel very content in our lives right now, we love reminiscing with the kids about our school years together (they're not old enough to roll their eyes at us yet ha!)

I met my partner one the first day at uni when we were 18 and we started going out about six weeks later. We're 52 now.

@Redcherries thank you x

I met DH at sixth form. Started dating at 17, got engaged before we went to uni at 18, had a long long engagement, our peers started catching us up. We got married on our 10 year anniversary and now have a house and 2 kids at 30 and still very happy.

Not me but a friend of mine has been with her partner since they were 15 and they’re 27 now and still very much in love and sickeningly soppy

Been together since I was 17 him 18. Still love him as much 21 years later. I never really understood when people said about missing out, we had loads of fun before settling in with marriage and kids in our 30's. Sounds very soppy but he is literally my best friend and we still are really attracted to each other. Sometimes you still see the teenager when you are together this long as you don't see someone aging ❤️