Like most wealthy people, he paid his way out of it. Not to mention that the underage victim was Black, and our girls are rarely if ever seen as victims.

“Concious uncoupling” broke the Internet?

This. I wasn’t left, at least not in the sense MLP was, but I spent my pregnancy alone. The worst part was going to my prenatal appointments and being labeled as “at risk” because I had no friends or family. I went to my birthing classes alone. My now-husband was there for the 3D ultrasound and for most of the labor…

How dare you speak of Tom Brady suchly.

When you have temptation (whatever it is) staring you in the face you really can’t rightfully determine whether a relationship is working. That is why cheating sucks. Ultimately you are cheating yourself and your left partner out of weathering the storm and having a more fulfilling relationship. Relationships take…

Sadly (as I’ve said in another comment on this post) I’ve seen it happen, so I can imagine - and it’s pretty awful. And I’m willing to bet MLP wasn’t someone who went into a pregnancy lightly with a guy she didn’t see as a long-term partner. I mean, as an actress, the unique ways pregnancy wrecks your body can effect…

This happened at my school, with the deputy head of the school having an affair with, and leaving his wife for another teacher at the school. At the time it was major scandal and all the students gossiped about it, but my mother knew a colleague of the jilted wife. He left her with a couple month old baby and she…

Agreed. When you’re off cheating and your partner is home with the kids doing all the dull kid family home life stuff you’re pretty much showing you’re a selfish git. That doesn’t bode well for parenting.

Please, he ran away when things got real. And he had a young woman waiting, with open arms and open legs. Let’s not romanticise or explain away what is one of the more crappy things you can do to another person. I mean, really.

At the risk of sounding negative, someone selfish and uncaring enough to leave his pregnant partner for another woman is probably not a likely candidate for Father of the Year.

As an aside...it’s really sad how common this narrative is. A close friend saw her husband run off with his high-school crush, leaving her with pretty much full-time care of their nine month old son (despite lots of lip service from the guy about how he’s still suuuuuch a good dad, eye roll). Another mutual friend had…

Everything I’ve read on the nationwide backlog of rape kits says that when they get tested, serial rapists are discovered, so probably a lot. One problem is that some jurisdictions don’t test rape kits when the identity of the accused is known. In these cases authorities may assume it’s simply a matter of establishing…

“...652 people suspected of being ‘serial sexual assault offenders...’”

Yeah, I’m getting pretty tired of the smug “if you really loved him you’d value the relationship more than a piece of jewelry” attitude. There’s emotional blackmail, and then there’s just being honest about what you want and need so the other person can make an informed decision.

I’m with you on this. I don’t think it’s cool to threaten to leave every time you’re upset, but I do think there’s a place for expressing that you need X to be happy in this relationship, and that you’re not willing to be in it long term if you’re unhappy. Long term partnership is part love and attraction and…

There’s “ultimatum” and then there’s figuring out if both of you are on the same page. I don’t fault any woman for asking if their futures line up. Why should any woman who is looking to get married waste her time on a relationship where the man thought was temporary?

It isn’t just a ring and a party. That’s only the wedding, and not everyone wants much of a wedding anyway.

I do believe in what might be called a “qualified ultimatum”, probably in line with what you refer to as a frank discussion but with consequences being clearly stated. I also feel though, that they should be used sparingly and you MUST be prepared to leave. There are probably only a handful of situations where they…

My aunt proposed to my uncle on the beach, back in the 80s when that was a bit scandalous :)