If you married young (under 25)

[Anonymous]

Not me, but a friend and her husband. Met at 17 in high school. Started dating at 20 and married by 23. She’s 33 now and had their first child. Those 10 years with no kids helped them a lot. They moved up in their careers and finances. They lived in a suburb of LA and recently moved to a much cheaper state. She’s told me that she doesn’t regret it and they’re very happy in their marriage. I’m not married, but I am younger than her so I’m still hoping I’ll find the one.

[Anonymous]

We were older when we got married, but DH's 2 sisters both got married and had kids soon after college.

Their marriages are strong. They have the careers they want.

Frankly, our marriage has been rockier and our finances aren't as strong as either of them.

[Anonymous]

Met at 18/21, married at 21/23, now 27/30. I don’t have a crystal ball, but we’re very happy now.

[Anonymous]

I was 25, not under 25 like you stated, so feel free to ignore . Got divorced at 30 (my choice, entirely). Married the man of my dreams at 32 and couldn't be happier with my life.

[Anonymous]

Met DH at 21 (he’s a year older), got engaged a month later, and married a year later at 22. Now happily married for 19 years and have three kids. We wanted kids right away, but knew we were too young, so we waited 7 years before we had our first. Like others have said, putting off having kids so that we could grow as a couple and experience adult life was the key to a successful marriage for us. We felt that we were right for each other from the first night we met and we had a shared vision of what we wanted our future, “adult”, life to be like. The early years, when all of our friends were still single, were sometimes tough, but we stuck with it and worked toward that shared vision of the future. Now that we are living that vision, life is wonderful! Marrying young allowed us to grow and make memories together, as well as build financial security (like a previous poster, we started out eating on a cardboard box in a crappy apartment) that we would not have had otherwise. At this point, we are both very grateful for each other and for the way things turned-out FWIW, we are also non-religious and from non-religious families who strongly discouraged us from getting married so young. We’re so glad we didn’t listen!

[Anonymous]

MY DH and I met when we were 23 and 24-we're now in our late 40's. We didn't get married until our early 30's although we did move in together at 24 and 25 a year after we met. We were both immature when we got together and I was nowhere near psychologically ready to get married. We had lots of ups and downs when we were in our 20's mainly because of our collective immaturity-lots of dumb fights, he was irresponsible about money, both of us couldn't figure out what we wanted to do career-wise, we both drank a lot and I liked to flirt with other guys when I was drinking (I didn't cheat but I came close). We had a lot of growing up to do and almost broke up many times. But we both really loved/love each other and ultimately wanted to stay together. By the time we got married in our early 30's we had calmed down and were actual adults instead of twentysomethings stuck in a delayed adolescence. He's my best friend and I love him dearly.

For me getting married young would have been a mistake because I was immature. Even though we lived together I was not ready for a legal commitment. But I have friends who were much more together and mature than I was who met in college, married shortly thereafter and are still together. On the other hand, my parents married young and it was a disaster-a contentious marriage culminating in a very ugly divorce. It's been over 30 years since they divorced and they still loathe each other.

Our kids are 10 and 13. I hope that they finish college and are in their mid-20's at least by the time they get married and start having kids. But I will support their decisions regardless.

[Anonymous]

Married at 24 after dating my then 30 year old husband for 6 months. 20 years and 5 kids later we are still married while many of our peers waited and dated their spouse much longer and then divorced. So it really comes down to the people in the marriage and their tolerance and willingness to compromise. “Don’t marry the person you can live with , marry the one you can’t live without.”

[Anonymous]

I would have been too scared and too immature to marry at 25 or younger. Kudos to you that made it work.

[Anonymous]

Met at 24, married at 29 (he 36). 2 kids at 34/38. Will be 25 years in May.

[Anonymous]

Married at 24. Kids at 25, 26, 29. Been married over 20 years. Heading towards a divorce. Wish we had time prior to kids to get our sh** together as a couple.

[Anonymous]

Met at 20 (in college). Engaged at 23. Married at 24. I’m now 49 and our marriage is extremely strong - we’ll celebrate 25 years at the end of September.

We tried to get pregnant when I was 27 but a miscarriage + some fertility issues afterwards = no kids until 29 (and 32). I’m actually glad we didn’t have kids until we did. I think things would’ve been a LOT rockier if they’d have come earlier!