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31 year old single childess female

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  • 10-10-2022 9:27pm
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 13


    Starting to panic a bit I won't lie 🙄 can anyone relate?

    Have even been debating hitting my ex up......

    Post edited by Hannibal_Smith on


«1

Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 3,635 ✭✭✭dotsman


    A) is having kids critical to you?

    B) why are you panicked? Am 40, and of all my friends of similar age who are now burdened with kids, the vast majority hadn't even met their respective husbands/wives at 31.

    C) besides the "sperm-donor" (which is all you seem to think of in a father), how prepared are you for marriage/motherhood? Career? Housing situation? Maturity wrt life-long relationships?



  • Registered Users Posts: 13,110 ✭✭✭✭Geuze




  • Registered Users Posts: 6,133 ✭✭✭screamer


    I can’t relate but I can share some insight. I have 4 kids and a great husband but I tell you one thing kids are hard work. You really don’t know how much till you have one. I take my hat off to any genuinely single parents doing it all on their own, kids are great but it’s bloody hard work, and my advise for what it’s worth is don’t panic. I had my last baby at 41!



  • Registered Users Posts: 6,189 ✭✭✭Ubbquittious


    Kids make a lot of noise and they have no off button. Are you sure?



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,297 ✭✭✭Count Dracula


    Far too much pressure placed on people to have kids.

    Why have you contemplated your ex?



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  • Registered Users Posts: 7,697 ✭✭✭YellowLead


    Maybe panic in 10 years time - if children are really important to you. Right now? You’re still very young and many people don’t meet their partners in their 20s but in their 30s these days, which you have only started.

    You’re allowed a mini freak out at 35 - don’t be that age looking back thinking how young and easy you had it at 31 and why did you panic :)



  • Registered Users Posts: 723 ✭✭✭dontmindme


    It's when you have your first not your last that's important - the younger the better.



  • Registered Users Posts: 6,133 ✭✭✭screamer


    Age is just one factor, it’s not the only thing that should be taken into account, and a lot of people would disagree with the younger the better. The more prepared the better, age aside.



  • Registered Users Posts: 3,635 ✭✭✭dotsman


    Why do you think "the younger the better"? The best age is simply when one is ready to have kids - mature, financially capable of raising children, stable relationship with life partner, secure housing, career objectives on track/met, travelling done, happy to have a very minimal social life etc. Very few people have that in their early 30's, let alone their 20's.



  • Registered Users Posts: 723 ✭✭✭dontmindme


    The OP is concerned about her biological clock, biologically the younger the better.



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  • Registered Users Posts: 35,733 ✭✭✭✭BorneTobyWilde


    It should be like dogs, get one at the pound, or seeing as it's a kid adopt, so many kids need a home,



  • Registered Users Posts: 2,815 ✭✭✭downtheroad


    This is probably the most ignorant comment I've ever read on this site. Adoption is nigh on impossible in Ireland, and to adopt from overseas can cost €50k plus.



  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 6,961 Mod ✭✭✭✭Hannibal_Smith


    OP, given its a discussion you're looking for as opposed to advice, I'll move your thread to the Ladies Lounge which is probably a better fit for it.



  • Registered Users Posts: 157 ✭✭Wezz




  • Registered Users Posts: 13 onelove1


    Yes having kids is critical to me and yes biological clock ticking loudly :(

    Panicked that I'm behind in life I meant or that time is running is out......

    I know there's lots of extra risks for mother and baby when mother is older than 35 also.

    I never imagined myself as an older parent either I guess. My life really just hasn't turned out how I'd expected or planned for it to go.



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,147 ✭✭✭Packrat


    Hpefully some constructive advice/anecdote.

    I as a man was looking when i was around 34 - 36 and by what we read, I should have been swimming in a pool of lovely 30 to 35 year old women ready to settle down. Not so. There were many who didn't want kids, many who weren't going out to pubs/clubs so i never met them, many who had other issues. (I'm sure the pool of men is similar)

    The reality I found is that yes, - as is regularly posted here and in every post about this subject, - many of the 'best' ones are already hooked up at that age, but there were still the occasional people who want exactly whatever it is that you offer and want too.

    Patience and think outside the box with regard to meeting them. They're there and some of them want what you want.

    Internet dating was only getting going properly then but is now a cesspool/frustrating hookup medium. It worked for us but from what I read now isn't that helpful.

    The best bit of advice I could give you is to look at what you want your life to be like - and be realistic as to what it's probably going to be like - look at your friends who are married and happy and at the type of people they picked, where they live, what they do on a daily basis (not the amazing photos from the most amazing holiday they took) If you're looking for an amazing 35 year old Spaniard who travels the world, - he's not looking to settle down with 3 kids in Castleknock or Castleisland.

    Analyse who it is you're looking for and figure out what these people do/where they go/where to meet them.

    Best of luck, but stop panicking or hide it better.

    “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command”



  • Registered Users Posts: 6,696 ✭✭✭El Gato De Negocios


    I didnt meet my wife til she was 34, we didnt have our first child until she was almost 39 and had our second when she had turned 40. There is plenty of time for you. Now thats not me trying to downplay how you are feeling or anything like that, more to try to illustrate that all is not lost just because you are over 30.



  • Registered Users Posts: 94 ✭✭Havenowt




  • Registered Users Posts: 23,317 ✭✭✭✭ted1


    Except you are considered a geriatric over 35 and you have a higher risk of complications. I know 2 people in their early 40s who Just had babies with DS



  • Registered Users Posts: 6,500 ✭✭✭Tombo2001


    I'd counter a lot of the comments here which seem to say no big rush - the prevailing view on this discussion and in Ireland in general, is take your time, not big rush - having your first kid in mid-30s is not an issue.

    And I guess to be fair by and large it is fine.

    However, without question, you have more energy in your late 20s and early 30s than you do in your 40s / 50s.

    You have a child at 38, then you have a 10-year old at 48...... that ten year old wants to play football or chasing or run around the playground with you for a few hours, you've less energy to do it.

    .....

    On a different note - OP, could you please respond to posts, just to show that this isnt one of those 'Boards.ie random new account starts provocative thread and then f**ks off never to be seen again' threads. Its a sensitive subject.



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  • Registered Users Posts: 13,412 ✭✭✭✭Dial Hard


    Because virtually no children are given up for adoption anymore.



  • Registered Users Posts: 6,597 ✭✭✭zg3409


    Firstly as said do you have housing and the finances to take 9 months maternity leave etc?

    Secondly are you actively dating, joining clubs where you are more likely to meet people, putting yourself out there?

    Even if you meet someone this year it's not advisable to get pregnant straight away. Wait until " honeymoon " period is over 6+ months or a year.

    If you want it to happen quickly you need to make steps towards it happening. Would you be willing to move to where they live? Would you change jobs to share accomodation. Living with someone for 6+ months tells you a lot.

    Try look outside your local area. Try find someone with similar hobbies or interests even if it's just travelling or going to the movies. Try join clubs with lots of male members. Ask people out. Take say one night a week to go on dates and actively build up a vetting and selection process for separating the time wasters from candidates.

    Many men dont consider kids until they are in their thirties.



  • Registered Users Posts: 12,422 ✭✭✭✭machiavellianme


    And getting an overseas adoption takes years (if at all) due to the cost, waiting times and bureaucratic hurdles.



  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 48,492 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    because very few people give their kids up for adoption, and you have to go abroad.



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,629 ✭✭✭jrosen


    Your not that old, I know a fair few women who were in their 30's before they met someone they wanted to start a family with. I think the plus side of your age is that alot of people have kissed their frogs and are clearer in what they want.

    Id give yourself a year, really put yourself out there. As said think outside the box. Join clubs, would you consider a single holiday? There are groups like walking groups/yoga holidays that attract lots of single travellers.

    Outside of that there is always the option of sperm donation and fertility treatment. Its an expense alright but accessible in ireland to single women.



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,860 ✭✭✭Pissy Missy


    I don't know if it's a relationship, child or both you want but I went through the societal pressures in my late 20s of 'wanting' a relationship, it's not nice as you know. Sadly theres no guarantees of if and when you meet your next potential partner. And no doubt your ex is an ex for a reason.

    If you're worried about having kids just freeze your eggs in the mean time and maybe you could get a little lovely pet if you don't have one already. Not everyone feels the same, but I was at a kids birthday party over the weekend, don't get me wrong, they're lovely but oh my god the noise of them, I'm so thankful to be childless and not have that level of responsibility that you can't go back on, my nephews, niece's and God children keep me more than busy in that department.



  • Registered Users Posts: 330 ✭✭cezanne


    Why dont you consider being a foster parent they are crying out for foster homes for children then you'd be "trying it without buying" . A foster can be a month anew born or a yearling in need of respite for 6 or 8 weeks or years depending on your time available.



  • Registered Users Posts: 10,456 ✭✭✭✭Furze99


    Availability of contraception, decline of religious influence and state supports for single parents are all contributory factors. For better or worse.



  • Registered Users Posts: 3,635 ✭✭✭dotsman


    So - you are saying 13/14 is the best age to have kids? Really?

    Not sure how you came to that conclusion. I didn't mention a specific age. I simply said "the best age is whatever age they are ready". Do you not agree? How is this a "dig" at anyone?

    A 36-year-old woman being considered a "geriatric" is taking it a bit far (and you have probably offended a lot of ladies on here 😁) . Yes, there are increased risks, and they increase greatly as you go into your 40's. But it is not that big a risk in your late 30's. If we want to go with anecdotal evidence, none of my friend's spitting out babies in their mid-late 30's have had a DS baby. So, its probably better to go with official stats. At 35, the chance of DS is 1 in 400, rising to 1 in 30 at age 45.

    But there are also huge risks having kids earlier in life, like not being able to financially support them, not being in a mature, stable relationship, not having a secure/suitable home, trying to balance hectic social life with children, trying to balance career-ladder-climbing with maternity leave and competing priorities (or simply exhaustion!) in the initial years of the child's life etc.

    Like most things in life, it is about balance. Very few people actually get to have everything perfect (perfect husband/job/family/house/finances/life etc) and expectations have to be constantly reassessed. For most (not all) women planning a family, that balance is usually found in their mid-late 30's.



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  • Registered Users Posts: 2,702 ✭✭✭ec18


    In pregnancy terms anyone over 35 is considered a geriatric mother. While no one is saying that it's guaranteed there is evidence that the older you get the more are risk you are and the baby are for complications.


    And no one is suggesting 13/14 is the best age to have kids, just that it's easier when you are younger for both the mother and having the energy available to deal with them. Biology doesn't keep up with changing society, back 3/400 years ago the average age of mothers probably was 13/14, but that's many different worlds ago and not acceptable.

    [QUOTE]What can I expect from a geriatric pregnancy?

    Geriatric Pregnancy Risks


    High blood pressure, which can lead to preeclampsia (dangerously high blood pressure and organ damage) Gestational diabetes. Miscarriage or stillbirth. Labor problems that require you to have a C-section.[/QUOTE]



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