Funadvice Logo

Graduate school versus family

Home More advice Love & Relationships

Hello everyone. I am looking for advice about family planning for a woman who is interested in pursuing graduate school. I am 22 and have been in a relationship with my boyfriend for 5 years now. I will be graduating in december, and having to make a big decision about whether I will start a family before graduate school with my current boyfriend (we would get married if I stayed). I am emotionally ready to make this step, but I am afraid of how it will affect my child later in life when I go back to school (which I will because I am a very headstrong individual). I always thought I would wait until after graduate school to have children, but I realize now that if I wait until I have my career, I will be about 30. I'm afraid that I might not have found someone by then who could live up to my current love (we would split up if I moved away for graduate school). I'm even more afraid of complications that come along with having children so late in life. Help! I'm trying to get as much input from as many people as I can for this life-changing decision, and I thought it would be nice to get some from people who aren't close to me or my boyfriend.