Dear Eric, I have been in a seven-year relationship with my partner. We do not have any children together and we are not legally married. I am 36 and he is 39 and I am at the point where I would like to get married and have my own child.

When we first got together, he was very much open to marriage and kids, but it seems that this has changed, even though he has not clearly expressed this to me. He says he is open to it, but that we do not have a support system since both of our parents ...

Dear Eric: I have been in a seven-year relationship with my partner. We do not have any children together and we are not legally married. I am 36 and he is 39, and I am at the point where I would like to get married and have my own child.

Dear Eric: My father passed from cancer in 2020. He and my mother were married for 53 years. One year later, my only sibling died suddenly from a massive heart attack. So, it’s just my mother and me left. We have never had a good relationship. Very tense, lots of jealousy (her, not me).

In today's Asking Eric column, R. Eric Thomas responds to someone who considering ending their long-term relationship due to disagreements about marriage and children.

"I am at the point of wanting to end this relationship no matter how much I love him because these are definitely things that I want."