Should I get pregnant to get my man to propose?

Should I get pregnant to get my man to propose?

Dear Coleen,

I’ve been with my boyfriend for six years and we live together.

However, he’s shown no signs of proposing. I keep dropping hints that I want to get wed, but he’s always got an excuse – we don’t earn enough, or we’ve got a big holiday planned.

I’m tempted to just get pregnant anyway to hurry things along.

What do you think?

Coleen says.

Please, no! Getting pregnant on purpose and pretending it’s a mistake would be totally the wrong thing to do.

It should be a mutual decision and if you force it on to him, he’ll ­probably feel resentful that you’ve trapped him.

He may even leave you and becoming a single parent is tough. If he’s not in a place where he feels it’s right to get married, then you should respect that. It took my husband seven years to finally get round to proposing to me, so I know where you’re coming from.

If you love him enough to want to marry him and have his babies, then you should love him enough to give him time and respect his wishes.

I would suggest you sit down with him and ask him to honestly tell you what his worries about ­marriage really are. If he’s concerned about the cost, then tell him you would be happy to have a small, ­no-frills wedding.

You could always have a party later on to celebrate when you have a bit more money put aside.

On that note, bringing up a baby is even more expensive than a wedding!

So if your finances aren’t in a great place, you have even more reason not to carry out your plan.

Eventually, I got my ­husband to admit that his big fear was making a speech at the wedding, as he’s terribly shy. He got there in the end!

If you and your boyfriend are meant to be together, then you’ll marry eventually – and ­without needing any trickery or lies.