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Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

27m dating 18f?!?!

67 replies

Lafoosa · 18/07/2023 18:52

So my ex recently told me he's in love with a woman, which in most cases I'd be happy for him as it means he's finally stopped trying to get back with me.

However, the "woman" in question has literally only just turned 18. He's 27 with 3 kids, and I think it's totally inappropriate that he's even perusing a teenager.
I'm not being unfair am I? It seems a bit predatory to go after someone as soon as they turn 18.

OP posts:
CerberusWoof · 19/07/2023 18:10

Sure, she can feel however she likes.

Why disingenuous? The OP described as "predatory" the fact of going after he "as soon as she turns 18" as if 18 were some kind of legal or moral milestone and he was waiting with bated breath for her to pass it so he could shag her. It isn't. The legal milestone is 16, what anyone thinks after that is up to them but 18 is no more objectively significant than 17 or 19.

CuriousW · 19/07/2023 18:11

I understand why you are concerned about your children being around a teenager to a certain extent… However, my Mum and Dad got together when she was eighteen and he was twenty eight and were happily married until my Dad passed away earlier this year, so I don’t think there is anything wrong with the age gap.

MumGMT · 19/07/2023 19:37

CerberusWoof · 19/07/2023 18:10

Sure, she can feel however she likes.

Why disingenuous? The OP described as "predatory" the fact of going after he "as soon as she turns 18" as if 18 were some kind of legal or moral milestone and he was waiting with bated breath for her to pass it so he could shag her. It isn't. The legal milestone is 16, what anyone thinks after that is up to them but 18 is no more objectively significant than 17 or 19.

A moral milestone....yep... That's exactly what some treat it as, even though much of the rest of us still think it's creepy or predatory, and not moral at all.

18 is significant for that reason, it's the age where people think they can go after a young person and if anyone says anything they can say "he/she is an adult".

TattoedLady · 19/07/2023 20:36

Lafoosa · 18/07/2023 21:44

@hev126 they are joint DCs, and I don't really want some teenager potentially being around my kids. Or my kids to think it's normal that their dad is dating a teenager, because it's weird af and not okay. She's only a year older than my little sister, and no way in hell I'd be okay with my sister dating a 26yo.
Obviously he's my ex so it's not by business what he does, but it is my business when it comes to my kids, and other people's kids even if their kid is 18. Who would honestly be alright with their daughter dating a guy who's nearly 27 when they're still a teenager?
It's creepy, and I don't really want him getting it into my daughters heads that when they're teens dating much older men is okay.

You're making this all about her when it's actually clearly about your "predatory", "creepy AF", "goes after someone as soon as they turn 18", "stopped trying to get back with you" ex, whose behaviour you don't want "getting in your daughters heads"...

If you're that worried about his behaviour maybe you should've picked a less creepy, predatory man to have children with.

Lafoosa · 19/07/2023 20:38

@hev126 all of our DCs are girls, and he's "joked" several times about he never wants them to date, etc. It's also super weird with this girl being the same age as my sister, who he watched grow up 🙃

And for all other people who seem to think it's just about the age gap (which if she were already in her 20s and wasn't a teenager I wouldn't have a problem with).
I'm only 23, I had kids with him super young so he's clearly got a thing for it. I was 17 when I got pregnant for the first time, he was 21. He absolutely will put on a nice guy act with her, then treat her like cr*p if it gets serious. There are SO many reasons why the fact that she's a young, vulnerable teenager is a HUGE issue here. He got me pregnant on purpose, twice because I wanted to leave him, he's a very scary drunk (and he drinks a lot), he's an absolute rubbish dad, so if she tried to leave him and he did the same to her as me then she'd be screwed. There's a lot more to add to this list.
But also how can anyone not find it incredibly creepy that he was just waiting for the day she turned legal after knowing her for ages beforehand?
I don't have an issue with him dating, I don't care about that. I have an issue with him dating a teenager, and clearly having a bit of a thing for teens.
If it was the other way around and a 27 year old woman was dating an 18 year old boy everyone would think it's creepy, but for some reason a lot of people think it's a score for me to get a girl who turned 18 2 seconds ago.

@PureLife89 the move on comment isn't very helpful. I've 100% moved on from him and me ever being a thing, I wouldn't have him in my life at all if we didn't have children together. I'm genuinely concerned for the girl and what his intentions are with someone that age.

OP posts:
hoophoophooray · 19/07/2023 20:40

I dated a 29yo when I was 17. My Mum wasn't bothered at all, but in hindsight it was a deeply unhealthy relationship with a lot of manipulation. I wasn't mature enough to decipher it.

it's cost me a fair whack in counselling bills over the years.

Thepollonator · 20/07/2023 14:50

guineacup · 19/07/2023 16:58

A 27 yo man with a 18 yo woman isn't really anything to get too het up about...

Totally agree with this!

Lafoosa · 21/07/2023 00:27

@TattoedLady as I already said in an above comment, I didn't choose him to have children with. He got me pregnant on purpose when I was 17 because I told him I didn't know if I wanted to be with him anymore. Then I was so young I didn't feel like I could be a single mum, I was too scared to be a single mum that I stayed and he pressured me into sex so many times that our second came from me feeling like I had to have sex with him otherwise he'd get angry and take his anger out on me. The third I'd just got myself a job, he knew it was so I could leave. He waited until I'd gone out for a drink with my sister so I wouldn't be sober then got me pregnant again, and shamed me quite badly because I made it clear I didn't want to be pregnant. Plus he'd always tell me I'd never find someone else who loved me, so hearing that from 17-23 when I finally left him doesn't exactly make leaving easy.

Even if the legal age of consent is 16, it's generally not considered okay for a fully grown adult male to sleep with a 16yo. Everyone would find that creepy and out of order, which is why it's predatory to flirt with them, buy them gifts, party with then etc right up until they turn 18 and then immediately turn it sexual. It's creepy, whether it's legal or not. And I'm genuinely concerned she'll end up getting in the same situation I did by falling for his fake manipulative charm and before long she'll find herself very young, pregnant with someone who has a drinking problem, gaslights women, and doesn't actually care about anyone but himself.
I'd be concerned about those things with any woman tbf, but I think at their age gap at the age she is is too much especially when she's not even gone to uni yet, she's not experienced any of the world, he's got three small children and it's a bit gross to be dating someone who was 12 when your child was born.

OP posts:
Somanycats · 21/07/2023 00:36

I would have thought most men with three kids by the age of 27 would be looking at recapturing their youth by any means possible! What happened op? The average age of a first time father is 34. Three aged 27 is really going some. Was he ever a properly adulting parent?

PomTiddlyPomPom · 21/07/2023 06:22

It isn't predatory, I can't get worked up about two adults dating.
I dated a 30 year old man when I was 19, we split because I found him too immature to bother with.
I met my now husband when I was 20 and he was 36.
Not every young woman is a delicate little flower with no agency around their own decisions.
Some if us were quite capable of weeding out the losers no matter how old they were.

Mugaloaf · 21/07/2023 06:49

I would be very worried for her OP.

PinkPlantCase · 21/07/2023 06:55

You’re totally right OP he sounds like a nasty piece of work. Moving onto his next victim who is likely too young to see him coming.

I’m sure men like this go for younger women because they find them easier to love bomb and control.

justanothermanicmonday1 · 21/07/2023 06:57

I was 20 and dated and a 30 year old. Looking back I'm mortified 😂 he was definitely on the rebound and I was madly in love! Yuk!

Zanatdy · 21/07/2023 06:57

When I was 19 I dated someone aged 27, and when I was 21 I dated someone age 31. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it, as long as over the age of consent which she clearly is.

Flashingtealights · 21/07/2023 07:01

Genuine question here. How did he get you pregnant on purpose. Were you not using contraception or did he force himself on you . If that's the case it's rape, why did you not report him the first time.

Viggooooh · 21/07/2023 07:12

I dated a 27 year old when I was 17/18. Couldn't understand why my parents didn't like it. Now I do. I do wonder what a 27 year old man has in common with a (pretty immature tbh) 18 year old.

JMKid · 21/07/2023 07:16

I teach 18 year olds and whilst might have bodies of adults, mentally they definitely are not. I don't think it's appropriate, especially when he has children. Nor do I get why an 18 year old would want to be with someone with 3 children. All odd and not right.

HerMammy · 21/07/2023 07:19

He got me pregnant on purpose, twice because I wanted to leave him,
Not sure how that works.

drpet49 · 21/07/2023 07:24

Oh here comes the drip feed. Why weren’t you using contraception? You chose to have 3 kids with him. That is on you.

LlynTegid · 21/07/2023 07:25

I am more concerned for the 18 year old than the 27 year old man child.

AlanJohnsonsBeamer · 21/07/2023 07:26

When I was 18 I fell for a 27 YO. Absolutely worst thing I've ever done and wasted 6 years with him. He just never grew up, still the same now partying all the time in his 40s. 🙄

Now looking back sooo many red flags but I was too young and stupid to realise.

He's an ex for a reason but I really don't think the relationship will last, she will get bored of him eventually.

TattoedLady · 21/07/2023 07:36

You were, what, 16/ 17 and he was 20/21 when you met? Not such a big age gap. You got pregnant at 17. Ok, it can happen to anyone. No judgement.

But if you didn't want any more kids after that surely you took responsibility for your own contraception? And if you continued to have consensual sex, without contraception, knowing the risks, then you must also take responsibility for your subsequent pregnancies. Unless as PP said you were raped, in which case you absolutely must report it.

Either way - who he's seeing now, whether you consider it age appropriate or otherwise, isn't your concern.

Lafoosa · 29/07/2023 12:46

@flashlight

OP posts:
Lafoosa · 29/07/2023 12:48

@Flashingtealights He got me super drunk, and it wasn't the only time he got me drunk to get me to have sex with him either. I stopped ever drinking around him because I didn't trust him to not take advantage of me being drunk (and I'm a lightweight so it doesn't take much).

OP posts:
Lafoosa · 29/07/2023 13:09

@drpet49 No, my body reacted poorly to all contraceptives I tried. But he just got very drunk, said if I'm leaving him why not have one last drink together and part as friends. Well that turned into him pouring so much rum into my rum and coke that I got very very drunk, and back then I just agreed to do whatever if I was drunk. But he used it as an opportunity to not use a condom because I was too drunk to check.
The second baby came from me feeling like I can't leave anyway because I didn't feel like I could raise a baby alone at 19 and ended up pregnant again. The third came because I told him I didn't think I wanted to be with him anymore, but agreed to work on it for 3 months. By the end of the three months when he realised he'd done nothing to change his behaviours and I'd be leaving, I'd just got a job again and was planning my exit I went out for a work do, got drunk with a friend, came home and he used my drunkenness because he knew I'd just agree to stuff and he pretended the condom split, which it didn't since he didn't even wear one. I didn't plan on keeping that baby, I didn't want to be pregnant again and I was tired of feeling trapped. But I ended up keeping her, which I don't regret now because I love her. But it took me until she was 7 months old to finally leave him.
It's not as easy as everyone makes out to leave someone who gaslights you constantly, makes you feel horrible about yourself and constantly tells you no one else will ever love you. It was right after lockdown ended for good I got pregnant with my third, and he knew I wanted out, and he knew I didn't think I'd be able to cope on my own with 3 under 4, one with ASD and one with ADHD, plus a newborn because I was already suicidally depressed from the stress of him telling everyone I was a horrible mum, rubbish partner, etc and he never helped with the kids. Plus he'd get drunk and violent all the time. He thought I wouldn't leave if we had another because I would be too overwhelmed. I wish I'd left sooner, it is so much easier with them on my own. But you can't see that while you're in it. I was scared of him coming home, I was scared if I didn't manage to have the house spotless he'd scream at me and throw things. And at 18, 19, 20 and whatever you're not that old, it's totally overwhelming being in that kind of relationship especially when you keep getting trapped further into it.
Having 3 kids by 23 to a horrible person wasn't something I planned to do, he just made me feel like I'm the worst person ever and that no one could possibly love me so I stayed. Plus he'd use my childhood traumas to his advantage (my mum abandoned me and my siblings), so he'd act like if my mum can't love me why would anyone else.

In any case, I had three kids with him. That doesn't make him now moving onto the next teenager okay, it's wrong and I'm genuinely terrified for her. At 18 you think you're so mature and an adult, but you're not. He'll just get her into the same situation I was in because he seems super charming and nice on the outside, it's only when he drops the act that he becomes vile. Even my family were shocked by what I said he did because he'd always put on a nice act whenever we were around people and then be horrible if we were alone. And as soon as you say no to sex for him he'll guilt trip you, tell you he won't be there for you emotionally, and say if you loved him you'd have sex with him. He told me multiple times he wouldn't take his own kids just so I could shower because I wasn't having enough sex with him so he wasn't motivated enough to take them. I often had to sleep with him just so he didn't get angry and take out his anger on me and the kids the next day.

OP posts:
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