On the decision to get married: Alix and Matt were both married before and didn't want to get married again unless it felt "right" and not due to any sort of obligations...like getting pregnant.
"After we found out that we were having a baby, we both agreed that we were happy with the way things are and didn't want to change a thing," Alix says. "We loved being with each other and welcomed the life and family we are creating together, why mess with it? When our daughter was about eight months old, Matt surprised me with a marriage proposal. When he gave me the ring and said that he felt like it's the right time because he felt like we are so in love with our life and each other and he wanted to be able to call himself my husband. I couldn't agree with him more. Getting married was not important to us, but it just felt right and we wanted to celebrate our love and our little family with a wedding. It was really awesome to have our daughter as our flower girl."
Dawn and Dean
How they met: Dawn and Dean met at a pub after being "dragged out" by friends for someone's birthday. Dawn remembers, "We barely talked at the pub, but I thought he was handsome and sweet so I got his number from a mutual friend. We met up the next night and it was an amazing date! We talked about marriage and children in the beginning of our relationship...."
Getting pregnant: Dawn said, "We both wanted kids soon and we both didn't care if we were married. We talked about when we wanted to start trying and got pregnant first try! We weren't engaged yet when we got pregnant, but we already knew we wanted to get married. We had a boy, Ryley, and he's 2 months now.”
On the decision to get married: Six months after Dawn and Dean started dating, Dean moved into her apartment. "We started talking about marriage then. We got engaged on Christmas Eve when I was already pregnant. He wanted to ask before we got pregnant, but he wanted to have the ring first...," Dawn said.
On babies and marriage: Dawn admits that she and Dean feel that having a child together is more of a commitment than getting married, especially now these days when (so many) marriages come and go.
She concludes, "Our relationship evolved quickly, I think, because we wanted the same things—house, kids, marriage. I guess we were at the age when we met where we were completely ready to have kids and didn't want to waste time. I didn't want to wait to start trying. I have a girlfriend who couldn't have kids and you hear about people trying for years! The marriage part could wait....and now Ryley can be part of our wedding."
Of course, having a baby isn't easy. For those who are considering having baby with a partner before marriage, keep in mind that everything changes when your child arrives—literally everything.
