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He's not ready!

stepmom1183's picture

Ok, so I don't have any children of my own. I am approaching an age where I want my own child and it's getting almost to now or never. I told my husband, bio dad, that I wanted a baby. He told me he's not ready. I have been with him and my step son for almost 4 years. When we first got together he had told me he had been considering "the snip", but reconsidered when we got together. So, I assumed we would have a child together naturally. So, anyways, I have been practically raising his son. Bio mom isn't in the picture very much, my husband has a job that requires him to be gone for 2 weeks at a time, and I am pretty much a single parent to a child that isn't mine. I take all of the responsibility for my step son, more than his bio parents. And my husband tells me he's not ready for another child! What?! How am I supposed to take this? He has been through this before, he has a child! What exactly could he not be ready for? And me, I really want a child of my own. I saw my husband with my step son on the couch cuddling together, and it really hit me. I mouthed to my husband that I wanted that. I wanted what he has with his son. And he's not ready... I feel like I'm being robbed of that. Like it's ok that I care for his child but can't have one of my own?! Has anyone else gone through a situation like this? I don't know how to take this. I did ask him what it was he wasn't ready for. He told me, he didn't want to go through that again... so I took that as since he had a bad experience with his ex, well that ruined it for me. I told him I needed to know if he would ever be ready, or if that day would never come. He told me he didn't know. I told him I would give him a little time, but that I was not going to wait forever. :? :? :? :?

Comments

stepmom1183's picture

You know, I was thinking that. I don't want to. But I can't stay with someone who doesn't want to have a child with me. Especially after taking care of his child for years.

the real mom's picture

Oh my goodness! I was in nearly the same position as you when I was newly with my DH. I told him I already had to be a mother, why not have our own? He said we had to wait a year. I guess the difference for me is that I knew there was a set time when we could start trying.

Don't give him an ultimatum, or else you WILL end up in the same situation he is in now. However, be quite frank with him about the fact that you are NOT his ex, and this won't be the same.

Hope that helps!

lilsadone's picture

Agreed. Him saying he's not really is really him saying he doesn't want another kid, period - but he knows that if he's honest about it, you will probably leave.

mlmt1128's picture

Sometimes you have to make sacrifices for the one you love. If he implied that he wanted to have children with you, and is turning his back on that, I would be PISSED. If you are going to be doing the bulk of the parenting (along with ss) what the hell does he need to be ready for??

When I told dh I was ready for a baby, he was not exactly over the moon about it. BUT...what he said was this. I have been through all that, and now that ss is 6 (at the time, he is 15 now) I don't really want to go through it again. It is hard when they are babies. It can be rough on a relationship. However, I would NEVER deprive you of having that experience, and if you are ready then we will try. It took over a year for me to get pregnant (I was older) and by the time it finally happened, no one was more thrilled than dh. I don't think I was able to change a diaper or feed my own dd for 3 days, he was so in love with her.

stepmom1183's picture

Well, I told him when we first moved in together what my number was, the cut off for having a child. It seemed so far away at the time and here it is only months away. I don't like the ultimatum thing at all. I did remind him I was not his ex, he told me it had nothing to do with her. But, the way he replied when I asked specifically what it was he wasn't ready for I know that's what it was. I don't want to push the issue, but at the same time, I don't think it's fair to me that he tells me he's not ready. I wasn't ready to be a step mom either, but here I am. I told him that too.

the real mom's picture

I think a lot of it could be that his kid is already out of the tough "baby" phase. It is REALLY hard, emotionally draining, etcetera. BUT it is so worth it! Break out your ss's baby pictures and remind him of all those wonderful feelings he had when his son was born, and why don't you ever get to experience that too?

I love my skids to death but I must say it is completely different to hold my baby boy in my arms and know he is mine, and I am his ONLY mom.

MyHeartandSoul's picture

When he says he's not ready, he is saying he doesn't want anymore kids. Period. My SO was about to get the snip when we first met but didn't because we were getting serious. But when discussions of children came up, two years later, he said he didn't want any more kids. I did end up pregnant a year later (I really didn't try to get pregnant) and he was okay with it because my child provided a sibling for his daughter. Nothing about the situation has been easy. But really, if you want children and he doesn't, there is nothing you can do. Don't sacrafice what you want out of your life for him. There are a million men out there who would love to have a child with you. I understand you love him and want a child with him but it probably won't happen.

stepmom1183's picture

mlmt1128, that's the reaction I was hoping for with my husband. That's awesome. lilsadone, I think you're right. I don't want you to be right. But I had that feeling too. I don't think he wants another child period. Otherwise, I would've gotten atleast a more supportive and compassionate answer than, I don't know I'm not ready.

misscinna's picture

I am in a similar boat however it is 4 kids, non existent BM and long hours for fdh. I didn't get a I'm not ready when we had the talk though. I got: I don't think financially we are in a position for it (he was right) and who knows what the future will hold. I'm not opposed to the idea of having a child but now isn't the time for it. The difference was we were having a hypothetical conversation LONG before it has become a real plan. He also was clear he would never deprive me of the opportunity due to his age (he is 11 years older than I) or number of kids. I had a magic number as well, he knows it and he is getting to the point where being older than, I sort of think he wants to get it out of the way lol. I will be reaching my number next month and I am not ready! We had a little scare 2 months ago and he took it better than I did. I panicked. He had this "Well we already have damn near a brady bunch why not one more?" attitude to him which was different from his Now is not the time speech. It was then that I realized his feelings on it had changed without my pushing. I also realized that I needed to push my number back. I want to be married first and he knows that is SUPER important to me, and I also only want one child. Always have. We agreed afterwards for him to get the snip. He was done having kids at #2 with the ex but she had a few oops I'm 3 months pregnant incidents so he ended up with 4. We have both sort of agreed to a when the youngest (ss3 soon to be 4) is in kindergarten we can revisit this. I have so much on my plate with a 3 and 5 year old and I can't imagine having to deal with a newborn. My skids are super self sufficient but being young still need care and I don't feel like it would be fair to them, myself or the baby because I would be spreading myself too thin. I let fdh know early on that I was in no big hurry to have kids but that it was in the cards for me some day. That I really only wanted one and that I would never trick or force him to have a child but that if the time came and he had made up his mind that he didn't want to then we would just part ways amicably and that would be that. That i wouldn't be angry or bitter or hold it against him because honestly why would I want to bring a child into this world that wasn't really desired by both parents or was a peace offering. That sounds like grounds for divorce or super unhappy child. However I know fdh and I know he would adore and fall in love with whatever child I gave him. He loves his own child who is 98.9% likely not his just the same as all the others why not one he would never have to wonder about? He also mentioned to me that he felt like an actor in his past marriage because he was just supposed to father these children then do whatever he was told and not go near them. She stayed locked up in her bedroom with them as infants and he was supposed to just show up and care for everyone else. Then they would hit 2 years old and she would be bored with them. He felt like he was just a moving part in a greater machine that he had no say in. He was supposed to show up, deposit sperm, and finance the party. I told him I have no interest in him not being a part of every second of his child's life and that I have high expectations for the father of my child. He seemed to like that.

My advice to you would be come at him logically and rationally and calm. He won't hear you when you are emotional, and (sadly) won't understand or care about your sacrifices or reasoning about his son or your need for sympathy. Men aren't programmed like that and for him the status quo seems to be working. Why mess it up? Men seem to think all women are supposed to be hardwired to be super maternal and love children like mary-fricken-poppens.

Make your argument as to why you'd like one and when you are ready, and that he need not be a willing participant.
No ultimatums, No freak outs or he will feel cornered and feel like the child was forced on him. I told my fdh if the time came, I didn't really care if I had a man or not that I felt confident and could support myself well enough that I could have a child or foster one without someone else. Though it was not preferred

Then make yourself unavailable. He'll know why. You can subtly hint at the removal of yourself from the relationship and then he will realize what it is he is missing and understand the implications of being unfair.

Good luck!

stepmom1183's picture

Thank you StepAside. I hope he has a change of heart too. And thank you everyone for your input and opinions. Very much! You know, I never was a girl who dreamed of having babies. I always assumed that one day I would have a child, but I never was one desperate to be a Mother at any cost. I think that it's my upcoming birthday. All of sudden, it's like my Biological Clock is ticking and it's really impacted me. I find myself being very emotional about the whole thing. And more than anything it just really hurts for my husband to tell me he's not ready. I can understand him going through the bad experience with his ex. I mean, I too would be hesitant in his shoes... however, I think I would try to be more caring about the topic. We had a conversation last night that just turned into arguing. It certainly wasn't my intention. It seems though most of his "not ready" is for financial reasons. But I think, C'mon if you keep waiting for the perfect time and the perfect budget, it will never be perfect. Perfect won't get here. I want to be understanding to him, but at the same time, I feel like he's not sensitive to me and what I go through on a daily basis caring for HIS child everyday by myself for 2 weeks at a time. I dunno... Almost everyone's opinion is filled with, "if he's saying he's not ready, he's saying he doesn't want anymore children period." I hope that is not the case. I don't want to end up divorcing over this. I told him I would give him some time. What is a reasonable amount of time? I've given him and my ss 4 years. How much more time does he need? I told him last night that I wasn't going to bring it up again. And I won't. He knows how I feel, I know how he feels. I don't want to pressure him into it of course. That wouldn't be fair for anyone. But now, how will I know if that day comes for him to be ready that it will be genuine and something that he wants? Or will it be out of desperation that he may lose me? He said last night that he was worried I would leave him. It's hard for me to be normal and happy with him. In the back of mind, I wonder how can I be married to a man that isn't ready to have a child with me? After the past few years, he has told me about his reconsideration of the vasectomy, he used to tell me how sexy I would look pregnant, at one time he had a medical problem and he said if he needed to he would have his sperm frozen... So of course when he knows of my cut off age and after 4 years of being together I am baffled about his "not ready" response. I hate this. Why couldn't this be easy? It seems to come so easily for everyone else. :?