Page 1 of 2 [ 18 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next

atdevel
Pileated woodpecker
Pileated woodpecker

User avatar

Joined: 16 Jun 2012
Gender: Male
Posts: 194

08 Aug 2012, 9:16 am

I'm 19 and never kissed. Should I consider adoption? I know I seem young but with every year that passes the possibility of getting a girlfriend seems less and less as my brain hardens. I'm angry at my parents for not emphasizing the importance of social skills.



DogsWithoutHorses
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 5 Apr 2012
Age: 30
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,146
Location: New York

08 Aug 2012, 9:31 am

adopting a child?
you're 19


_________________
If your success is defined as being well adjusted to injustice and well adapted to indifference, then we don?t want successful leaders. We want great leaders- who are unbought, unbound, unafraid, and unintimidated to tell the truth.


atdevel
Pileated woodpecker
Pileated woodpecker

User avatar

Joined: 16 Jun 2012
Gender: Male
Posts: 194

08 Aug 2012, 9:33 am

DogsWithoutHorses wrote:
adopting a child?
you're 19


I mean in the future, maybe my mid-to-late 20s. I don't know if there is a reason to keep trying as the probability that I will achieve romantic success is rapidly declining every year.



DogsWithoutHorses
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 5 Apr 2012
Age: 30
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,146
Location: New York

08 Aug 2012, 9:35 am

atdevel wrote:
DogsWithoutHorses wrote:
adopting a child?
you're 19


I mean in the future, maybe my mid-to-late 20s. I don't know if there is a reason to keep trying as the probability that I will achieve romantic success is rapidly declining every year.


citation needed
not having a dating history at 19 isn't even uncommon


_________________
If your success is defined as being well adjusted to injustice and well adapted to indifference, then we don?t want successful leaders. We want great leaders- who are unbought, unbound, unafraid, and unintimidated to tell the truth.


atdevel
Pileated woodpecker
Pileated woodpecker

User avatar

Joined: 16 Jun 2012
Gender: Male
Posts: 194

08 Aug 2012, 9:38 am

DogsWithoutHorses wrote:

citation needed
not having a dating history at 19 isn't even uncommon


Ok I don't have a real citation. I've just read a kajillion stories around the internet about how people who never dated in college have never dated well into their 30's - 60's! A lot come from the book "Shyness & Love" by Gilmartin.

Doesn't the brain harden when I'm 4 or 5 anyways?

As for not having a dating history at 19, everyone dates all the time at my college.



DogsWithoutHorses
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 5 Apr 2012
Age: 30
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,146
Location: New York

08 Aug 2012, 10:09 am

atdevel wrote:
DogsWithoutHorses wrote:

citation needed
not having a dating history at 19 isn't even uncommon


Ok I don't have a real citation. I've just read a kajillion stories around the internet about how people who never dated in college have never dated well into their 30's - 60's! A lot come from the book "Shyness & Love" by Gilmartin.

Doesn't the brain harden when I'm 4 or 5 anyways?

As for not having a dating history at 19, everyone dates all the time at my college.


eh, i know people who started dating in their 30's and are married now
not having a girl friend now isn't a guarantee you'll never have one

I understand it's frustrating to be single now, when you;d like to be dating, but don't project that frustration on the rest of your future because it's really not over until you're in the ground.

and you're 19, you have lots and lots of prime years ahead of you


_________________
If your success is defined as being well adjusted to injustice and well adapted to indifference, then we don?t want successful leaders. We want great leaders- who are unbought, unbound, unafraid, and unintimidated to tell the truth.


Aitrean
Blue Jay
Blue Jay

User avatar

Joined: 4 Jan 2012
Age: 33
Gender: Male
Posts: 81
Location: Canada

08 Aug 2012, 10:18 am

First, 19 is too young to adopt a child. Think about that in your late twenties if at all.

Second, you're college age, plenty of people are still going through their first relationships by college. Life isn't over, you're still young and date-able for at least another 10 years.

Third, half of finding a spouse is based on self-esteem. Go to the gym occasionally, if you can. And keep your hygiene up, it makes a world of difference in personal confidence and appeal to women.

Fourth, I don't understand what you mean by "brain hardens", but I assume you mean to say that after x age, you stop being able to change your brain. Having invested a lot of interest in the psychology of success, I can tell you that's 100% false. Every modern scientist agrees that throughout your life you can change and train the brain at any time if you put time and effort into it. Search "neuroplasticity" on google and you'll see some extraordinary stories about it. I know it's much more difficult for people with AS to build up their social skills, but if you find the right friends, and the right girl, you'd be surprised how much you can improve.



HisDivineMajesty
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 31 Jan 2012
Age: 30
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,364
Location: Planet Earth

08 Aug 2012, 11:27 am

DogsWithoutHorses wrote:
citation needed
not having a dating history at 19 isn't even uncommon


It's not uncommon. However, it's not as widespread as many would have him believe. Not having had any type of relationship at the age of 19 is not as common as people think, and is usually the result of either religious and moral objections or severe defects in the individual. By the time you're 19, you're two full years behind on the median age people have sex even in the most decent and respecting countries in the world. According to a survey held in this country, these were the percentages of things already done by the time people reached the age of 18-21:

French kissing: 92%
Touching in a sexual way: 89%
Vaginal sex: >76%
Oral sex: 71-74%

By the time they were 21-25, these were the figures.

French kissing: 96%
Touching in a sexual way: 95%
Vaginal sex: 88%
Oral sex: 84-85%



League_Girl
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 4 Feb 2010
Gender: Female
Posts: 27,205
Location: Pacific Northwest

08 Aug 2012, 12:27 pm

Adoption isn't easy because of all the red tape you have to go through. You also have to impress the birth parents so they can select you as their child's parent and I read that most of them are picky. If you have a very good income, then your luck is high. Plus it can take years for you to adopt and sometimes the birth mother can take her baby back after she has it because she decides she wants to try raising it. Plus they may prefer a married couple to adopt. I am sure single people can still adopt but it may be harder for them. Plus it's expensive but adopting through foster care is the cheapest, only several thousand dollars. Sorry for the negativity but it's what I have read when I was looking into it too. I also now it's not like what you see in the movies where if you want a child, you just go to a place where there are kids who have no parents and pick one to adopt and take home. I don't even know if such places still exist in the USA.


But it's still up to you. I would start looking into it so you know how it's done and what to expect. I was disappointed in what I learned about it. But at least I learned adopting is not simple so telling someone to just adopt is not good advice.


_________________
Son: Diagnosed w/anxiety and ADHD. Also academic delayed.

Daughter: NT, no diagnoses.


again_with_this
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 13 Jun 2012
Age: 41
Gender: Male
Posts: 780
Location: New Jersey, USA

08 Aug 2012, 12:32 pm

You're a single male. Why the hell would you wanna raise a kid if you don't have to?

More importantly, why aren't you working on getting a girl instead of worrying about adoption? It's like you want to skip a step.



atdevel
Pileated woodpecker
Pileated woodpecker

User avatar

Joined: 16 Jun 2012
Gender: Male
Posts: 194

08 Aug 2012, 1:00 pm

again_with_this wrote:
You're a single male. Why the hell would you wanna raise a kid if you don't have to?

More importantly, why aren't you working on getting a girl instead of worrying about adoption? It's like you want to skip a step.


I already mentioned that I was considering it for when I am 25+.

I don't know if my brain can evolve anymore. Maybe the brain can rewire itself throughout its life but my brain doesn't seem to want to rewire.



again_with_this
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 13 Jun 2012
Age: 41
Gender: Male
Posts: 780
Location: New Jersey, USA

08 Aug 2012, 2:03 pm

atdevel wrote:
again_with_this wrote:
You're a single male. Why the hell would you wanna raise a kid if you don't have to?

More importantly, why aren't you working on getting a girl instead of worrying about adoption? It's like you want to skip a step.


I already mentioned that I was considering it for when I am 25+.

I don't know if my brain can evolve anymore. Maybe the brain can rewire itself throughout its life but my brain doesn't seem to want to rewire.


If the natural course of things is finding a girl, then having kids, if you can't handle step A it may be nature's way of saying step B is also off the table.



SteffiTheSmile
Toucan
Toucan

User avatar

Joined: 11 Aug 2012
Gender: Female
Posts: 266
Location: U.K.

13 Aug 2012, 6:07 am

I think you should wait until at-least your early 40s, before considering it again TBH, you're still young, and have plenty of time to meet a girl you want to have children with :).


_________________
Blah blah blah


blue_bean
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 13 Apr 2006
Gender: Female
Posts: 10,617
Location: Behind the wheel

13 Aug 2012, 6:59 am

League_Girl wrote:
Adoption isn't easy because of all the red tape you have to go through. You also have to impress the birth parents so they can select you as their child's parent and I read that most of them are picky. If you have a very good income, then your luck is high. Plus it can take years for you to adopt and sometimes the birth mother can take her baby back after she has it because she decides she wants to try raising it. Plus they may prefer a married couple to adopt. I am sure single people can still adopt but it may be harder for them. Plus it's expensive but adopting through foster care is the cheapest, only several thousand dollars. Sorry for the negativity but it's what I have read when I was looking into it too. I also now it's not like what you see in the movies where if you want a child, you just go to a place where there are kids who have no parents and pick one to adopt and take home. I don't even know if such places still exist in the USA.


But it's still up to you. I would start looking into it so you know how it's done and what to expect. I was disappointed in what I learned about it. But at least I learned adopting is not simple so telling someone to just adopt is not good advice.


With overseas adoption most countries don't adopt out to single parents at all.



DeathbyMonkeys
Blue Jay
Blue Jay

User avatar

Joined: 24 Jul 2012
Age: 29
Gender: Female
Posts: 86

17 Aug 2012, 5:51 pm

I'd say you adopt when you want to. Don't wait for a girl.

1. Woman are adopting kids/ going to spermbanks while they are single. Why shouldn't men (adopt, not go to a sperm bank).

2. Yea its hard to adopt, but for pete sake if gay couples can adopt then that shouldn't stop you from trying!

3. A single guy who adopted his own kid? And therefor will not pressure a girl to have a kid from her? Hell thats going to be very sexy to women who already have their own kid and/or divorced.

It sounds like you want a kid more then a wife?
There are plenty of parenting books, you don't need a wife if all you is a child!



Roxas_XIII
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 8 Jan 2007
Age: 33
Gender: Male
Posts: 3,217
Location: Laramie, WY

17 Aug 2012, 7:33 pm

Dear, I know things seem hopeless now but you still have your entire twenties ahead of you, and not having a relationship until college is actually quite common. As it so happens I happen to be my girlfriend's first kiss, and she's a sophomore in college, just turned 20 this year. She was kind of a shut-in in high school, but going to college allowed her to enjoy certain freedoms that were impossible for her in HS. And just between you and me, I happen to love her very much, and I'm a caring guy who is very understanding and patient. IMHO she lucked out finding me on her first attempt at romance.


That said, everyone's story is different, but the fact of the matter is you are just starting out into the real world, so don't obsess over these things. If you try too hard you'll only drive people away. You're making it sound like you're a Christmas cake, but generally speaking that threshold isn't until 30 at the least.

So why don't you go out and just have fun without worrying, and maybe you'll find someone, yeah? We'll reconvene in 10 years and discuss things then.


_________________
"Yeah, so this one time, I tried playing poker with tarot cards... got a full house, and about four people died." ~ Unknown comedian

Happy New Year from WP's resident fortune-teller! May the cards be ever in your favor.