Im M33 and she is F33. We have been together for around a year.

Around 15 years ago, my girlfriend was told that she may not be able to have children as she has issues with her ovaries where she can not produce eggs. It really upset her at the time because it meant she might not be able to have children biologically related to her.

We have spoken about it quite a few times. I have told her that there are other options if having children naturally is not possible, but I also suggested that we get a proper fertility assessment done before assuming the worst, especially as it was something she was told 15 years ago.

I really want children in the future and would ideally like them to be biologically related to both of us if possible.

Has anyone else been in a similar situation where they were told they could not have children, but later found out there were options available?

What would be the best way to approach this without putting pressure on her?

I am a locum pharmacist with around 10 years experience. I have spent 4 years as a Superintendent Pharmacist in community and around 4 years working in GP, including senior clinical lead experience and PCN. I am currently working as a locum.

Something I have noticed over the years is how strict some managers and pharmacy owners can be with their staff, but at the same time there can be very little praise or recognition when staff are doing a good job.

When I was in management, I always tried to be supportive of my team, even when things were stressful or difficult. Obviously there were times when things had to be addressed, but I always felt that staff worked better when they felt respected and appreciated rather than constantly being put under pressure.

I have seen situations where staff are doing a lot, dealing with workload, patients, targets and everything else that comes with pharmacy, but the focus from management is still on what they have done wrong or what they need to improve.

I sometimes wonder why there is so much emphasis on having power and control over staff rather than actually supporting them and giving them some recognition.

For those who have worked in management or owned pharmacies, why do you think this happens? Is it just the nature of the industry, or is there a reason why some managers feel the need to be so strict rather than encouraging their staff?

I’m starting to wonder if I’m just incredibly unlucky with dating because the experiences I’ve had over the last few years have been ridiculous 😂

I get matches and I do go on dates, but it feels like I constantly end up meeting women who are unavailable in some way.

1. I was in a 2-year relationship with someone who was heavily controlled by her parent and had very avoidant tendencies.
2. I was in a 6-month relationship with someone with a very anxious attachment style who would get extremely upset if I didn’t meet her or call her regularly.
3. I’ve met women who wanted marriage within 3–6 months of dating, which is way too quick for me.
4. I’ve met women who were cheating.
5. I’ve met women who were clearly using me to get over their ex.
6. I’ve met women who simply weren’t over their ex.
7. I’ve also had my fair share of women who were rude, weird or just difficult to deal with.
8. Then there’s the dating app experience where you get ghosted, only for them to randomly reappear weeks later saying they were “busy with life” 😂

I’m 34M, Indian and based in the UK. I’m not expecting someone to be perfect, and I’m happy to take things slowly. I’d much rather spend a couple of years building a relationship properly than rush into marriage after a few months.

The frustrating thing is that when I do meet someone who seems genuinely decent, emotionally available and compatible, they seem to get snapped up incredibly quickly.

At this point I genuinely can’t tell whether I’m just having an unusually bad run of luck, whether dating is just like this now, or whether I’m somehow repeatedly choosing the wrong people without realising it.

Anyone else feel like they’ve had an absurd run of bad luck with dating?

I'm not sure whether to take a career break now or wait until the end of the limited companies tax year ( Jan 2027). I have a destination wedding coming up in Feb 2027 as well..so could explore loads of different countries after.

I've been a pharmacist for 10 years and have done quite a lot during that time: Superintendent Pharmacist, Senior Clinical Pharmacist, PCN, Independent Prescriber, and now locuming across both GP practices and community pharmacy. I left my Superintendent/Senior Clinical Pharmacist role about three years ago and have been locuming ever since. I've also managed to save enough for a deposit to buy a pharmacy.

The problem is that I'm finding work a bit stale now. I still enjoy helping patients, but I'm getting increasingly frustrated with management. I'm the type of person who likes to suggest improvements and challenge inefficient processes. The staff are usually receptive, but owners and managers often seem resistant to change, so it feels like you're banging your head against a wall.

Long term, I'd like to buy my own pharmacy in the next 2 to3 years. Before taking on that level of responsibility, though, I want to enjoy life like travel, take some longer holidays, and have a proper break while I still have the freedom to do so.

Financially, I'm in a position where I could afford to take some time off, but I'm undecided whether to do it now or wait until the end of the limited companies tax year ( Jan 2027)

Has anyone else taken a career break before buying a business or after years in healthcare? Did it help, or did you regret stepping away? I'd be interested to hear your experiences and whether you'd wait or just go for it.

34M dating 33F — IVF concerns

I've been dating a woman for around 3 months and she's absolutely amazing. We have great chemistry, loads in common, and I can genuinely see a lot of potential with her.

The only concern is that she has an issue with her ovaries which means conceiving naturally is unlikely, and a doctor has said IVF would probably be needed if she wanted to have children.

I don't mind the idea of IVF itself, but I do worry about the possibility of going through it and it not working. I worry that if we were unable to have children, it could potentially put a lot of pressure on the relationship or even affect how we felt about each other.

She was upset when she told me, and I didn't want to go into detail about her condition at that moment or dampen the mood further. So I haven't really discussed the specifics with her yet.

Am I worrying too much about something that is still hypothetical, or is this a legitimate concern to consider before becoming more serious with someone?

34M dating 33F — IVF concerns

I've been dating a woman for around 3 months and she's absolutely amazing. We have great chemistry, loads in common, and I can genuinely see a lot of potential with her.

The only concern is that she has an issue with her ovaries which means conceiving naturally is unlikely, and a doctor has said IVF would probably be needed if she wanted to have children.

I don't mind the idea of IVF itself, but I do worry about the possibility of going through it and it not working. I worry that if we were unable to have children, it could potentially put a lot of pressure on the relationship or even affect how we felt about each other.

She was upset when she told me, and I didn't want to go into detail about her condition at that moment or dampen the mood further. So I haven't really discussed the specifics with her yet.

Am I worrying too much about something that is still hypothetical, or is this a legitimate concern to consider before becoming more serious with someone?

I'm 34M from Leicester and have been dating a 33F from London.

We've been on 4 amazing dates so far and recently agreed to be exclusive. She was actually the one who brought up exclusivity, and I was happy to say yes.

Things have been going really well. We have loads in common, the conversation flows naturally, we can talk for hours on the phone, the romantic chemistry is great, and texting has been good too. We usually have around 3 phone calls a week.

Recently though, she's started wanting more phone calls. She's also brought up the distance a few times and has asked again whether I'm still happy being exclusive, even though we'd only discussed and agreed to it on our last date.

We've talked openly about the distance several times before, and we were both comfortable with it. She has told me she's an overthinker, so I'm wondering if that's what's happening here.

From my perspective, nothing has changed. I'm still happy being exclusive and still want to see where this goes. I'm just trying to understand whether this level of reassurance seeking this early on is fairly normal, especially in a long distance situation, or whether it could be a sign of anxiety or incompatibility down the line.

Has anyone dated someone who needed a bit more reassurance early on? How did it turn out?

M34, she's F33.

We've been on 8 dates so far and recently agreed to be exclusive.

She's everything I've been looking for. She's gorgeous, into the gym, we're financially stable, have amazing sexual chemistry, loads in common, and every time we're together I genuinely feel special. We also speak on the phone around three times a week, so it's not like we're lacking communication.

The only downside is that she lives about 2 hours away, so I'm usually the one driving to see her each week.

The strange thing is... I feel like something is missing, but I can't put my finger on what it is. It's not that I'm unhappy, and there aren't any obvious red flags. I just don't have that feeling of certainty that I expected.

I broke up with my ex last year, and I genuinely feel like I've moved on from that relationship, so I don't think it's unresolved feelings.

Has anyone else experienced this? Did the feeling eventually disappear as the relationship developed, or was it your gut trying to tell you something? I'm trying to work out whether this is just overthinking, the long-distance aspect, or something I should actually pay attention to.

I’m currently seeing a few women at the early stages and trying to figure out how to pace things properly. We have done a few telephone calls.

One I’ve been on 3 dates with

Two I’ve got first dates lined up with (this weekend + next week).

One is abroad currently and will be free in July

I like the vibe with all of them so far, but weekends are the only real time I can meet most of them, so things are starting to stack up quickly.

For people who date multiple at once....how do you usually pace it so it doesn’t turn into back to back dates every weekend or feel like you’re not giving each person enough attention?

I’m currently seeing a few women at the early stages and trying to figure out how to pace things properly. We have done a few telephone calls.

One I’ve been on 3 dates with

Two I’ve got first dates lined up with (this weekend + next week).

One is abroad currently and will be free in July

I like the vibe with all of them so far, but weekends are the only real time I can meet most of them, so things are starting to stack up quickly.

For people who date multiple at once....how do you usually pace it so it doesn’t turn into back to back dates every weekend or feel like you’re not giving each person enough attention?

Looking for some impartial advice.

I was the Superintendent Pharmacist at a GP-owned pharmacy for 3 years (started December 2019). It's a 12,000-item/month store. During my time there, I got the services up and running, helped improve profitability, and generally had the pharmacy operating smoothly. My salary was £62k (pre-tax), and I also worked within the GP practice.

I left to do a mix of GP and community locum work and currently earn around £69k. I work from home twice a week, although my average commute to locum shifts is about 1 hour 20 minutes.

Recently, some of my old staff and the GP owners have contacted me. Apparently, the current Superintendent isn't pulling his weight, staff morale has dropped, and the pharmacy is starting to lose money, partly because services aren't being delivered effectively.

They've offered me £78k to return, and the commute would only be around 40 minutes.

On paper, it's a decent pay rise and a shorter commute, plus I know the business well and enjoyed building it up. On the other hand, I left for a reason ( hit a glass ceiling and wanted to locum for more money at the time), and I'm conscious that going back to a former employer doesn't always work out.

Would you go back? What factors would you be considering before making the decision?

I’m looking for some outside perspective on a relationship that I’m still trying to make sense of. I'm M 33 Sikh UK.

We were together for around 2 years, and at one point it was quite serious — families were involved and marriage had already been discussed on both sides.

In October 2025, both sets of parents met to discuss things after her parents had previously blocked us from continuing to date for about a month. After that meeting, things did continue, but there was still a lot of pressure from her side for things to move quickly toward marriage, while I felt it should be our decision and not rushed.

Around the same period, her circumstances changed quite a bit. She lost her job in London, moved back home to Southampton, and had a couple of months unemployed before starting a new role. That seemed to affect her mindset and emotional stability around the future in general.

Over time, she became more uncertain, including changing her views on having children after a close friend had a difficult birth experience. The relationship gradually became more distant and unclear, and at one point she even described us as “platonic,” which felt very different from how things had been previously.

We eventually ended the relationship in November 2025.

What’s made it hard to process is that it didn’t feel like a clean breakup with one clear reason — more a mix of family pressure, life instability, and shifting perspectives that slowly changed things over time.

I’ve been trying to move forward since then, but seeing her graduation photo recently brought a lot of it back up unexpectedly.

Just looking for outside perspective on how people process situations where there isn’t a clear “ending,” just a gradual shift.

Early last year I came out of a 2 year relationship. I’m 33 from the UK. In the end I had to leave because she was really avoidant and the whole relationship was starting to stress me out mentally.

After that I took some time for myself, travelled a bit, focused on the gym, friends and work, and honestly got myself back into a good place.

Recently I started dating again and wow… it just feels like an absolute minefield now.

I get matches and likes, but half the time when I ask for their number it just goes dead silent. I’ve been on dates where the woman spends the whole time talking about how much men annoy her, or they’re super affectionate like kissing, hugging, acting really into me.... then suddenly hit me with “there’s no romantic connection.”

Then there’s the ghosting, only for them to randomly pop back up weeks later wanting attention again.

Maybe dating in your 30s is just different now, but honestly it feels exhausting compared to what I expected. Anyone else finding this?

Early last year I came out of a 2 year relationship. I’m 33 from the UK. In the end I had to leave because she was really avoidant and the whole relationship was starting to stress me out mentally.

After that I took some time for myself, travelled a bit, focused on the gym, friends and work, and honestly got myself back into a good place.

Recently I started dating again and wow… it just feels like an absolute minefield now.

I get matches and likes, but half the time when I ask for their number it just goes dead silent. I’ve been on dates where the woman spends the whole time talking about how much men annoy her, or they’re super affectionate like kissing, hugging, acting really into me.... then suddenly hit me with “there’s no romantic connection.”

Then there’s the ghosting, only for them to randomly pop back up weeks later wanting attention again.

Maybe dating in your 30s is just different now, but honestly it feels exhausting compared to what I expected. Anyone else finding this?

So i'm thinking of going Brazil in April 2027.

Just got a plan below and just thinking if it is too rushed.

Days 1–5: Rio de Janeiro (4 full days + arrival)

• Day 1: Fly from London, arrive Rio
• Day 2: Christ the Redeemer + Sugarloaf + Santa Teresa
• Day 3: Ipanema/Copacabana + Botanical Gardens + samba
• Day 4: Adventure day (Pedra da Gávea hike or hang gliding)
• Day 5: Tijuca National Park + local Rio culture

Days 6–7: Paraty

• Colonial town exploration
• Island-hopping boat trip, snorkeling, waterfalls

Days 8–10: Iguazu Falls

• Day 8: Travel to Foz do Iguaçu
• Day 9: Brazilian side of falls + Bird Park
• Day 10: Argentine side + Devil’s Throat + boat trip

Days 11–14: Amazon via Manaus

• Jungle lodge stay
• Canoe safaris
• Wildlife spotting
• Indigenous community visit
• Meeting of Waters

Days 15–17: Salvador

• Day 15: Pelourinho, capoeira, Bahian food
• Day 16: Beach day (Praia do Forte)
• Day 17: Culture + sunset at Barra

Day 18

• Fly Salvador to London Heathrow

Many thanks in advance.