Is an Intimate Relationship with a Single Parent Actually Inferior to a Relationship with Someone Without Children?

One of the many things that can lead a couple's marriage into divorce is when one partner prioritizes certain items in their life greater than their relationship with their spouse. Such items typically include their work, various passions, personal hobbies or regular activities and interactions with their parental family. When an individual does this, this puts them out of alignment from the continued growth and direction of their relationship with their spouse.

The authors of many relationship self-help books I've read suggest that under normal circumstances, a person's overall commitment to their immediate family should be their first and highest priority. This can be a dramatic experience for an individual who's not psychologically, emotionally and physically ready for the degree of disconnection from their parental family that's required to truly commit to their significant other. From the perspective of the significant other, this can lead to toxic in-law syndrome leaving them angry towards and resentful of their partner.

An individual's commitment to their immediate family can also be broken down and prioritized, however, this leads to some very arguable opinions. In Barbara De Angelis's book titled "Are you the one for me", she suggests that a person's spouse is their highest priority and then any children between them are collectively their second priority. I'm rather indifferent about this.

When two people meet and then later fall in love, their relationship is mutually formed. This implies that they've both made a conscious choice to engage in their relationship together. Children, however, are not given the opportunity to make a conscious choice to be born, or to be born specifically to this particular couple. For that reason alone, I find myself indifferent about a person's relationship to their significant other being their highest priority.