This is probably your typical post of 'woman who does too much and man who doesn't seem to appreciate it all that much'.
I'm 27F, my partner is 35M (turning 36 in a few weeks). There's about 9 years between us. We've been together 18 months. We've lived together 'officially' since July, but have practically lived together since the beginning of the relationship, so there haven't been any real changes since July.
He has a young son from a previous relationship that ended when she cheated. Before this, he was married and divorced, a relationship that again was ended due to his ex-wife cheating. He has a lot of trauma from this but he'd been single from long-term/serious relationships for about 3 years when I met him, and had also been in therapy.
Essentially: I do a lot, I feel like I'm doing wife duties on a girlfriend salary.
I've embraced his son, who is here 3/4 weekends a month (due to distance), helped with custody fights/documents (problems of neglect with mum) - both emotionally and financially, transformed my office into an (amazing, Pinterest inspired) bedroom for him, and do 95% of the cooking/cleaning/laundry/bins etc.
The latter point is mostly because we just have different 'standards' when it comes to doing things - I like to live in a fairly pristine environment, while my partner can deal with mess accumulating for a week or so and so doesn't feel the same urgency. E.g. I think dusting the skirting boards is important because they turn 'black' pretty quickly, he probably would never even consider dusting them and definitely doesn't notice when I do it.
We essentially function as a 'married couple' day to day, and I think I'm starting to grow a little resentful. A lot of my friends are now married/engaged/having children, and I feel a bit stuck, sort of like I'm playing wife/happy families and looking after a child that he's had with someone else. Meanwhile, I really want marriage and my own kids.
We had a bit of an argument a few weeks ago. He went out drinking with some friends and came back tipsy. I asked him about his timeline (innocently, we were watching MAFS!) and he said he hadn't really thought about it. I said that was disappointing (I was gutted internally), as he'd previously mentioned the 2 year point being a good time. He then started rambling a bit about his fears with marriage - that he had a bad experience before (fine, I get it), and that he has lots of worries - me cheating, for example, like his wife did. This was so wildly off-base and unfair (there was a heavy implication that I would somehow be capable of that), I've never given any hint or reason for this, and led to a pretty nasty argument over the following days.
He basically said that he wishes we were married already, that he hates the pressure, that he wants to marry me and always has (true - he said a few months in I wouldn't be waiting long), that I'm his person, etc. I just don't get why all the waiting around for something he says is 'inevitable'.
I can feel my fertility clock ticking. I've had past issues with fibroids (had a very large one removed via c-section in 2022), which means my fertility is a bit of a question mark. I'm not sure how much scar tissue is there (and so whether I can even carry a pregnancy), or if the fibroids will come back and I'll need more surgery before waiting 18 months for my uterus to heal - only to lead to more scarring. It's a bit messy.
He's said he's happy to stop preventing a pregnancy whenever I'm comfortable. I said ok, but if we do that before marriage, the baby is having my surname until we marry. He said no, and that we'll wait and do things properly then.
He gave a timeline when we resolved the argument of next June. This just makes me feel a bit sad though, like it's edging towards a 'shut up' ring. I'll be 28 in June, 29 when we marry, and then who knows how long it will take to get pregnant and give birth. Probably at least another 2 years - which all pushes me over 30. I always wanted to have kids before turning 30, so it's sad to have to manage my expectations. In the meantime, I just have to keep playing wife and looking after his child with someone else - which is really beginning to hurt my heart.
I'd love some advice, and maybe if anyone can relate, to hear your own stories.
Thank you!