Best Amazon Prime Day deals: Mumsnet favourites

Best Amazon Prime Day deals:
Mumsnet favourites

Shop now

Please or to access all these features

30 days only

DH double betrayal

10 replies

ArthurLee · 19/06/2026 09:12

I'm feeling so sad this morning and I don't have friends or family I feel like I can talk to about all this stuff so I hope its OK I post here.

DH and I have 2 DC, 5 and 7. Last year we decided to try for a third, I got pregnant straight away but miscarried in the spring at 9 wks. DH said he wasn't sure about trying again due to a health condition he has, which was heartbreaking and I really struggled with it but didn't try to persuade him to come round. In December we chatted and he said he did want to try again, his health was better and he also wants a larger family, like me. We started trying straight away. In February things between us had been better than for a long time, we were really aligned and happy. Then I found out that he had been paying for content from sex workers and messaging them. It felt like my insides fell out from me. I'd known he had used porn the whole time we've been together and I'm very good at compartmentalising and so I boxed that up and ignored it but paying for and messaging sex workers was an escalation and complete betrayal.
He was immediately contrite, understood that his behaviour/use of porn had escalated and decided to completely stop watching any pornography. He sought specialist therapy and we worked together to find a couples therapist.
Because our marriage is good otherwise, his immediate acknowledgement of the issue and his work to do and get better, because I dont want to lose my family, and, in large part, because we were trying for another baby, I decided to stay with him.
About 2 weeks ago he was looking at money - our finances are healthy, good saving, good pension and good income - and he said he's not sure about a third baby as he wants to be able to provide as much financial help as possible to our current DC. I didnt pay it much attention at the time as I thought he was just in his head about it. This morning, after a few days of being under the weather with his health condition, he woke up and said he's not sure about trying for a baby now, he's worried his health isn't up to it. Which, from him, means he's going to stop trying.
I am so sad. I feel so hurt and retraumatised by what happened in February. I feel like I've stayed with him under false pretence and all the effort I made to move on from the hurt he caused was pointless as we are no longer in alignment about our future, it turns out the support he got was very short lived, we had 3 sessions of couples therapy which didn't even touch on the betrayal in Feb- it was all focused on how stressed he is and strategies for coping with stress.
I just feel so sad about it all. I have one friend who knows we are trying and one other friend who knows about him paying for content and messaging sex workers but no one who I can tell about both and so I dont feel there is anyone I can work through this with.

OP posts:
Gardenisablooming · 19/06/2026 09:19

He isn't a good dh.
He isn't a good df.
He is a cheater..
Not a good recipe for another dc imo.

secon · 19/06/2026 09:39

He’s a shit, no doubt but you don’t come across well too- your marriage seems transactional. Do yourself a favour, count your blessings with the children you have and go your separate ways.

oliviaAustin · 19/06/2026 10:00

Sorry OP. Maybe seek some solo therapy to discuss this and what your outcomes could be (how can you forgive, can you, would it be better to split, how to move on).

ArthurLee · 19/06/2026 10:15

secon · 19/06/2026 09:39

He’s a shit, no doubt but you don’t come across well too- your marriage seems transactional. Do yourself a favour, count your blessings with the children you have and go your separate ways.

This is quite confronting but if im honest probably spot on. DH and I get on but it was never a great love affair. I am a child of an awful, acrimonious divorce and I am probably very motivated by not turning into a bitter, depressed and needy woman in my old age like my own DM. My marriage is good enough, safe if I squash one off incidents, happy moments.

OP posts:
harriethoyle · 19/06/2026 10:31

I think you have to separate the two issues out.

Him not being sure about having a third child and thus deciding against it? Fair enough although sad for you, particularly with the backdrop of health issues. Not a betrayal although I understand why it's sad for you. The person who doesn't want a child always has final say IMO.

Him using sex workers? Utterly unacceptable and a terrible betrayal. For me, that would be a deal breaker. He's contrite because he was caught.

Personally, I couldn't stay with a man like that but if you value the stability of marriage, which I can empathise with having heard about your childhood, you will need to be a master of compartmentalisation and accept that your marriage is not a love match, but an arrangement which gives you and the children economic and social stability but unfortunately is not emotionally fulfilling or healthy. Only you know if you can live like that. I couldn't.

ArthurLee · 19/06/2026 11:56

We've both come from backgrounds with difficulty. Not extreme hardship and not abusive but unstable, parents who couldn't quite meet us where we needed as children. We met young and we both provided the other with something we needed and so stayed together. We enjoy each other's company, we love each other and there is a lot that does work. Its hard online to communicate the intricacies of relationships - which are often complicated - so you'll have to take my word for it.

I have been thinking about what hes said this morning and I am more hurt with the way he said it - it was like a throw away comment with no understanding of how hurtful it would be to me having had a miscarriage last year and being so happy that weve been trying again. It was while he was getting ready /leaving for work so I've just had to sit with it, unable to actually have a conversation about it.

OP posts:
ArthurLee · 19/06/2026 11:58

@harriethoyle I totally agree about the one who doesn't want a baby is the one who decides. After my miscarriage I spent no time trying to persuade him. We chatted through December about (9 monthd later) and he decided of his own volition. I will make my peace with whatever he chooses but it still hurts.

OP posts:
whippersnapper55 · 19/06/2026 18:02

I really wouldn't have another baby with him. You've papered over the cracks of his betrayal without ever really addressing it. The marriage is still on rocky ground and it's at least possible if not probable that he has continued the behaviour. Do you really trust that he will never contact sex workers again?

For me, what he did is a dealbreaker and it sounds like the only reason you made your peace with it was because you want another baby.

I'm sorry he's so inconsiderate of your feelings. If you want to stay with him, I think you need to go back to couples therapy and be really honest about how his behaviour has made you feel.

Jellycatspyjamas · 20/06/2026 11:22

It sounds like you set aside the hurt from his betrayal because you thought you’d have another baby. That’s a recipe for disaster - very different for you to work through your feelings and make a conscious decision to stay and rebuild. I’d also not be bringing another child into a relationship you’re clearly not happy in - a new baby won’t add anything good to that situation.

His reasons for not wanting another child are as valid as your desire to add to your family but you’ll struggle to find a way through that while still holding feelings about his betrayal.

Papster · 21/06/2026 22:51

Focus on your marriage (save or bin is up to you and you know best).
Protect current children through time of uncertainty
Don’t embark on dc3 with everything else unresolved.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page