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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

Husband refusing 2nd child

444 replies

Whatisthisallabout1 · 07/08/2025 21:11

My husband swings between absolutely not having another child and maybe we can have another. Our daughter is nearly 7, I have been firmly on the need another child band wagon for 3/4 years. I feel like he said not just now for a while then this changed. I had a miscarriage in feb last year, he said we could try again but has since back tracked. I’m so unhappy and depressed over it I’m in therapy - he refuses to attend. He has lots of reasons, money, mental health (says wants an easy life) aging parents ect as to why no more children. My heart aches and I cry most days. I can’t help feel that he is ruining my life, my child’s life with no siblings. I’m 38 soon and really want to leave, but I’m scared I don’t find someone in time- but if I’d left sooner I might be happy and settled by now. He refuses couples counselling. I am starting to hate his existence. Do I just leave and try and be happy?

OP posts:
WhateverIdo · 09/08/2025 14:30

I honestly think your priorities are all wrong.

Your poor daughter will be internalising this and end up growing up feeling she's not good enough. That she broke up the family because she was not adequate.
The age gap between them means they wouldn't have a natural bond and this talk of not having cousins is crap, I don't have cousins, can't say I've ever been bothered. Everyone I know barely sees their cousins.

Manipulating someone into having a baby is so wrong, his feelings are more than valid.

If you want to leave because you don't want to be with him do it, but don't blame it on him being selfish for not giving you what you and only you want. Your daughter would rather have her dad than a sibling.

Why not start appreciating what you do have and being happy with that.

Radiatorsa · 09/08/2025 14:47

Bonmot57 · 09/08/2025 14:17

What does his earning capacity have to do with it? That sounds rather mercenary.

Children aren't reared on fresh air, of course the cost of them are a factor if you are a responsible adult planning on having more.

She's the main earner and he's concerned about the financial aspect.
OP has stated she can afford to have a second child on her own if she decides to.

He doesn't want another child and is stringing her along.
He has emotionally abused her and mocked her about the miscarriage.
She should be leaving him, not discussing a second child.
He's a pig.
Not surprisingly she hates him.

Bonmot57 · 09/08/2025 15:04

Radiatorsa · 09/08/2025 14:47

Children aren't reared on fresh air, of course the cost of them are a factor if you are a responsible adult planning on having more.

She's the main earner and he's concerned about the financial aspect.
OP has stated she can afford to have a second child on her own if she decides to.

He doesn't want another child and is stringing her along.
He has emotionally abused her and mocked her about the miscarriage.
She should be leaving him, not discussing a second child.
He's a pig.
Not surprisingly she hates him.

Edited

Just because the OP is the main earner, doesn’t make her partner more disposable. Would you say that of a SAHM?

How do you know he is a ‘pig’? Although, some of the posters here think he should be treated as breeding stock or some sort of performing circus animal. He might just be at the end of his tether. He isn’t stringing her along- in her first post she made it clear he ranges from absolutely not to maybe- hardly a ringing endorsement of the plan to have another baby, is it? I suspect he said these things to get her off his back.

Clearly this marriage has run its course- that I would agree with.

sandwichlover93 · 09/08/2025 16:44

Whatisthisallabout1 · 08/08/2025 09:05

This is exactly how I feel, I can’t help look at my sick parents and feel the guilt that my child will have this all on her own. I send her for sleepovers with cousins knowing my grandkids will never get the same! It’s horrible . I think all we can do is split up as I feel he is showing nothing but disrespect for my feelings he’s not even compassionate about the situation.

Kindly OP, this stuff is all unhinged. You could have another 5 children and 1 might end up caring for you solo. Also you have no grandkids!!!

Cherrytree86 · 09/08/2025 17:26

Anon501178 · 08/08/2025 14:07

You may desperately want a child, but agreeing with other posters, it's not at all necessary for your child to have a sibling, and they won't be missing out from it. I'm an only, I've always been very happy with it, and while I do have cousins, we're not at all close. I also have many friends who have one or more siblings, and I would say that close sibling relationships seem to be the exception far more than the rule. Most seem to see them just a couple of times a year, and some actively don't get on with them. And it's very common for just one sibling to be left with elder care, while the others don't contribute. So don't project all those hypothetical reasons onto your child, please own that it's purely your own desire, and that's fine.

Good for you that your experience as an only child was positive, but that's not the case for everyone and certainly wasn't for me.

I was an only child.I had a lovely childhood in many ways but there was always somebody missing.I would see friends with siblings and desperately wish I had that too....when friends went home i felt empty.I had a big home, big garden, all my parents attention, plenty of money, privelidge and opportunity, and they gave me pets too.
But it didn't make up for being on my own.I used to wish on my birthday cake and when throwing stones in the sea or stirring the Xmas pudding, for a little brother or sister.

As an adult, my father died afew years ago, and all my mum has is me.....I live close and so will be here for her, but if I was someone who wanted to move away, live abroad or something I couldn't have done that without leaving her alone.

When I watch my two children play together, I feel so grateful they have each other....and realise even more what I missed out on.

Yes not all siblings are close, but when the parents foster their relationships and handle conflict well, many are, and they can really enhance childhood and beyond

Edited

@Anon501178

No guarantee that if you had a sibling that you’d even like each other

Freysimo · 09/08/2025 17:35

ObliviousCoalmine · 08/08/2025 08:21

This whole thing is mad. You’re ditching your marriage for a hypothetical baby that might never happen even if he agreed.

You’re wasting all this time crying every day about it, rather than living and appreciating what you already have?

I agree. OP, the secret of happiness is being happy with what you have. Count your blessings that you have a healthy happy child and two parents who love her. That's winning the lottery.

justasking111 · 09/08/2025 17:43

I can't decide if on this thread some posters deify men, consider children less important than their husband, or if I'm being trolled.

On a dadsnet type forum I'd understand the minimising of a woman's distress. On here I'm baffled today. 🤷

Lookingforwardto2025 · 09/08/2025 17:59

Your DH is perfectly reasonable to not want a 2nd child. However it appears that he is being quite cruel about it in terms of mocking you and failing to be there for you when you had a miscarriage.

I don't think it would be reasonable to divorce him because of the first but would be completely reasonable for the second.

You do need to come to terms with not having a second child though. If you left him tomorrow then in order to be a responsible parent to your DD you would need to spend at least a year and ideally longer getting her settled into her new life with divorced parents. If you went down the route of a new relationship then you would need to do a year of dating before they met your DD (and this is assuming you meet the right person straight away). Then at least another year before considering moving in. Then another year or so of living together before TTC to make sure that it worked for you.

If you go down the donor route then it is the year of settling your daughter. Then fertility treatment is slow (I have done IVF). You will need counselling for a donor conception. It takes months for clinics to give appointments even when going privately. In all likelihood your first attempt won't be successful and you have to have gaps between attempts.

thepariscrimefiles · 09/08/2025 18:02

WhateverIdo · 09/08/2025 14:30

I honestly think your priorities are all wrong.

Your poor daughter will be internalising this and end up growing up feeling she's not good enough. That she broke up the family because she was not adequate.
The age gap between them means they wouldn't have a natural bond and this talk of not having cousins is crap, I don't have cousins, can't say I've ever been bothered. Everyone I know barely sees their cousins.

Manipulating someone into having a baby is so wrong, his feelings are more than valid.

If you want to leave because you don't want to be with him do it, but don't blame it on him being selfish for not giving you what you and only you want. Your daughter would rather have her dad than a sibling.

Why not start appreciating what you do have and being happy with that.

If she leaves, it will be because she doesn't want to stay with a man who mocked her while she was having a miscarriage. That would kill any loving feelings for most women.

Firefly1987 · 09/08/2025 19:46

justasking111 · 09/08/2025 17:43

I can't decide if on this thread some posters deify men, consider children less important than their husband, or if I'm being trolled.

On a dadsnet type forum I'd understand the minimising of a woman's distress. On here I'm baffled today. 🤷

No we just don't think women should get what they want 100% of the time to the detriment of everyone else. Some posters seem to think only a mothers' needs and wants matter. The one who doesn't want another kid gets the final say-regardless if it's the mum or dad. And it sounds like he has plenty of sound reasons so it's not like he hasn't given it some thought.

RedToothBrush · 09/08/2025 19:48

I can’t help feel that he is ruining my life, my child’s life with no siblings

There are not enough words to describe just how utterly offensive and self absorbed this is.

It's not remotely true.

On all counts.

OneNeatBlueOrca · 09/08/2025 20:07

Firefly1987 · 09/08/2025 19:46

No we just don't think women should get what they want 100% of the time to the detriment of everyone else. Some posters seem to think only a mothers' needs and wants matter. The one who doesn't want another kid gets the final say-regardless if it's the mum or dad. And it sounds like he has plenty of sound reasons so it's not like he hasn't given it some thought.

Can you imagine if the sexes were reversed.

Man comes on and says his wife isn't even the main earner
That he wants another child, so she should just have one. He's been crying daily to her for 2 years and begging her to have another child

He's desperately sad his child won't have a sibling.

So just because his wife isn't the main earner, she doesn't have any value, and she can damwell, do as he says, because he's paying for it.

It's nothing to do with deifying men. It's seeing that she is utterly unreasonable, and she cannot force another child on a man who doesn't want one.

She actually sounds quite mentally ill, and therefore, for that reason alone, she shouldn't be having a child

It's difficult to know what the truth is because whilst she says she hates this man and he's abusive and mocks her - if he changed his mind tomorrow, she'd quite happily have another baby with him and stay. He can't be that bad then.

Maybe he's run out of patience. Maybe he's sick to death of having her cry every single day demanding a child from him.

That's pretty manipulative of her too. Quite honestly, the more I think about it, they deserve each other. The seven year old girl doesn't deserve them though.

PumpkinPieAlibi · 09/08/2025 20:09

justasking111 · 09/08/2025 17:43

I can't decide if on this thread some posters deify men, consider children less important than their husband, or if I'm being trolled.

On a dadsnet type forum I'd understand the minimising of a woman's distress. On here I'm baffled today. 🤷

We must be reading different threads. I have seen no 'deification' of men here.

Also, not a single person has minimised a woman's distress. Posters are trying to rationalise with someone who is willing to blow up her whole life and that of her child's for something that is far from guaranteed and that she will likely regret.

Are we never allowed to contradict or question a woman, regardless of how irrational, selfish or destructive she is being?

Anon501178 · 09/08/2025 20:29

Cherrytree86 · 09/08/2025 17:26

@Anon501178

No guarantee that if you had a sibling that you’d even like each other

Not necessarily, but at least there would have been a chance.

MiddleLifeCrisisorWhat · 09/08/2025 23:00

Anon501178 · 09/08/2025 20:29

Not necessarily, but at least there would have been a chance.

I'd have been happier as an only child. My brother made my life hell.

Firefly1987 · 09/08/2025 23:44

@MiddleLifeCrisisorWhat same. We could all dream about the perfect brother/sister couldn't we? That's what people who think they missed out on siblings are doing. Some of us know the reality of it and it's not always rosy. I guess some people are just sold on family being the be all and end all. That type of mindset will have anyone disappointed. Although strangely enough it's often the same people who think dads are not needed at all...

Sodthesystem · 10/08/2025 00:09

A baby won't fix what's going on here. You should never create a whole new human being as a plaster to heal your own wounds. Good on you for going to therapy. But you need to cancel this whole baby idea. Or at least put it on the back burner. Baby fever has taken the wheel and ran away with the whole carriage. It's not the time to be talking kids. Even if your hubby was all in.

Also, being an only child was great.

FairKoala · 10/08/2025 00:46

Lookingforwardto2025 · 09/08/2025 17:59

Your DH is perfectly reasonable to not want a 2nd child. However it appears that he is being quite cruel about it in terms of mocking you and failing to be there for you when you had a miscarriage.

I don't think it would be reasonable to divorce him because of the first but would be completely reasonable for the second.

You do need to come to terms with not having a second child though. If you left him tomorrow then in order to be a responsible parent to your DD you would need to spend at least a year and ideally longer getting her settled into her new life with divorced parents. If you went down the route of a new relationship then you would need to do a year of dating before they met your DD (and this is assuming you meet the right person straight away). Then at least another year before considering moving in. Then another year or so of living together before TTC to make sure that it worked for you.

If you go down the donor route then it is the year of settling your daughter. Then fertility treatment is slow (I have done IVF). You will need counselling for a donor conception. It takes months for clinics to give appointments even when going privately. In all likelihood your first attempt won't be successful and you have to have gaps between attempts.

Or she goes it alone and doesn’t waste her time waiting around for other people to catch up

Firefly1987 · 10/08/2025 01:44

FairKoala · 10/08/2025 00:46

Or she goes it alone and doesn’t waste her time waiting around for other people to catch up

If she's completely selfish and only thinks about herself then yeah sure.

FairKoala · 10/08/2025 01:56

Firefly1987 · 10/08/2025 01:44

If she's completely selfish and only thinks about herself then yeah sure.

Well apart from her dd who else should she think of?

AgentJohnson · 10/08/2025 04:51

Your marriage is over and has been for some time but you are afraid to pull the trigger. When the resentment reaches the level it has done in you, then it’s time to go.

To move forward you do need to accept where you are and how you got here. Right now it’s all about you pointing the finger and blaming your H. I am not saying that his attitude/ behaviour hasn’t played its part but to move forward, you do you need to own staying in a relationship that makes you unhappy. At this point in time, you’re running down your own biological clock.

I can’t imagine the atmosphere at home is healthy for the child you do have.

Lookingforwardto2025 · 10/08/2025 08:46

FairKoala · 10/08/2025 00:46

Or she goes it alone and doesn’t waste her time waiting around for other people to catch up

But even then I think it may be too late. Realistically it will take a while to separate and sort out new homes etc. Then as I said at least a year of settling the DD into her new way of life and also giving time for OP to see how being a single parent goes and whether she can actually manage a newborn as well as her DD.

Then even as a private patient it can take months to get the baseline tests done at a fertility clinic and they will probably insist that OP has donor specific counselling before she can start treatment. She then has to wait until they have space to fit her in and that will vary between clinics. Realistically she will probably be in her early 40s as this point and the statistics for success at that age aren't good. She might be lucky and it works first time but in all likelihood it is multiple cycles. It took us 18 months to do just one egg collection and two transfers.

jacks11 · 10/08/2025 10:55

I am baffled by some of the posts here.

OP is obviously reasonable to decide to end her marriage if she really does hate her husband (whatever the reason/rights on wrongs by either party). Given the situation as she portrays it, she would be entirely unreasonable to have another baby with him. And entirely unreasonable to look to jump straight into another relationship and have another baby as soon as physically possible- she has her daughter’s wellbeing to consider.

A baby should not be brought into this situation, they are not a sticking plaster for a woman’s mental health (wanting a baby may be a significant factor, but I am absolutely sure it is not the only issue)- and OP’s is clearly not in a great place. Having a baby will not fix her problems, it just makes them more complicated. And why on earth would OP want a baby with a man she says she hates? One who clearly does not want another child and whom she states has been actively horrible to her? I mean, who in their right mind would bring a baby into that situation? Nobody with any sense, which makes me think that OP is not in the position to be having another baby. She needs to work out what she wants (other than a baby) and sort herself out before jumping into a new relationship and another baby (or going down sperm donor route)-for her own sake, and most importantly for the sake of her 7 year old daughter.

Either her husband is awful, and she needs to leave him because her marriage has failed, or he is good enough to have another baby with and so cannot be as bad as portrayed. I am not sure if he was always stringing OP along or simply changed his mind. The latter happens, it may mean the couple are no longer compatible, but it is not a heinous crime. And no-one should be coerced into have a child they don’t want- it is often the child who suffers most in those cases. I also think his income being lower than his wife’s is neither here nor there in that situation (just as if the woman had the lower income, it does not make her duty bound to provide a child if her husband demands it).

Clearly, if he was always lying to her that he wanted another child just to make her stay that is an awful, cowardly thing to do- he should have told her up front and then she could have decided what to do with that information (i.e. did she love her husband and the family they had created more than she desired another child). But we actually don’t know that happened- even if OP thinks that, sometimes anger and grief make us see things that aren’t accurate because it is easier to be angry/ascribe malicious motives to someone, than deal with the situation.

I also think OP needs to step back from her desire for another baby immediately and consider the practicalities. Ok, she can afford another baby (but she should remember that as she is the higher earner, and assuming custody of their daughter is 50:50, that she may end up with less than a 50:50 split of marital assets)- but that really is not the only consideration here, is it? Is she mentally strong enough? She is clearly highly distressed and if she is crying every day, possibly depressed, and leaving what has turned into a toxic (possibly abusive) relationship by her account. Jumping from that, straight into a new relationship is not a good idea for anyone involved- not her, not the new partner, and certainly not for her daughter. Going down the sperm donor route removes the partner issue- but again, she needs to be in a better place mentally before trying to tackle being a single mum to a newborn with a 7 year old who has just had a lot of upheaval. Even with great support, that is going to be tough on her and her daughter.

She needs to consider the impact of all of this on her daughter too- she absolutely should not stay in an unhappy marriage for her child’s sake. But, realistically her fertile window is narrowing. If she does not want to go down the sperm donor route, she is going to have meet a man who is keen to settle down and have children pretty quickly. She is then going to have to introduce him to her DD far more quickly than is likely to be advised, and likely to have him live with them. And very soon after, introduce a new half-sibling into this mix. Is that really in any way in this little girl’s best interest?

OP has to consider the wellbeing of her daughter, which is more likely to be negatively impacted by all of that than by the hypothetical worries that she will be damaged by not having a sibling or possible nieces and nephews in the future. Most single children are absolutely fine, and if they aren’t, usually it is not solely the lack of sibling which was the primary issue. Children whose parents jump from relationship to relationship, introduce new partners to quickly and try to rapidly blend families without due consideration and groundwork are generally far more likely to be damaged by that, than by being an only child.

It really is not as simple as “dump him and have a baby with someone else”.

Lookingforwardto2025 · 10/08/2025 10:58

I 100% agree with everything you say @jacks11!

OneNeatBlueOrca · 10/08/2025 11:17

Children whose parents jump from relationship to relationship, introduce new partners to quickly and try to rapidly blend families without due consideration and groundwork are generally far more likely to be damaged by that, than by being an only child.

Yes, and existing children always come first over and above a hypothetical child who does not yet exist and over and above the desires of a parent to have another child, no matter what. I don't know why that is a hard concept to grasp on what is a parenting website.

It is not a simple as saying, everybody will be fine as long as the op has the baby she wants. It isn't selfish to say the existing child should be prioritised.

I haven't seen a single shred of concern for the 7-year-old from the OP or the consideration of the impact on her, if she does this.

If she's thinking of just splitting up her marriage and being a single parent alone to her seven year old then fine. Child would probably be better off with parents who are split up but actively involved in her parenting rather than in an unhappy marriage.

But that's not what this poster is trying to do.She wants to break up her marriage to immediately get pregnant to someone else or use a sperm donor. It's an utter disaster of a plan.Considering when her mental health is so poor.

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