When I was in my early 20s, I envisioned a future like this: meet perfect partner by Be married around Start having babies at 32, give or take a couple of years. At 30, I was still very much a single-and-dating gal. I would never have been ready to meet my life partner at 25 β I was having some major identity crises and just starting to kick career goals. And at 30, I felt like I still had some time to find them. One very obvious one being children. Of course, I could be lucky and fall pregnant easily in my 40s β many women do.
But statistics are against me the older I get. See, I love my life. I am still very much happy being the single-and-dating girl. I love the highs of dating β the first kisses, tipsy dates, new sexual partners who teach me new things. The niggling thought that I probably need to get serious about children has become a screaming banshee in my head β time is ticking, and will soon run out. But at the same time, I am hyper-aware that bringing a child into this world is a huge commitment.
Suddenly, you have this little person who is entirely reliant on you and your partner for everything β food, sleep, attention. Not that I need one β plenty of women have children solo. So I have the added complication that even if I decided to take the leap on a personal level, I need the stars to align on the life-partner side, too.
The odds are kind of stacked against me, you know? But as with every life circumstance, there are positives and negatives for every experience. No sticky Vegemite toddler kisses or the thrill of seeing a child grow and develop their little personality. I can build family through strong friendships, my siblings, communities.
Instead of perceiving a childless existence as the loss of something, I started to view it as simply a different route in life. When she's not travelling around the Aussie outback, she's dreaming about it. Native ad body. Who Is Belle Gibson? View this post on Instagram.
