I have the same issues. My boyfriend and I have talked about marriage in our future, and yet there is only one thing hindering that currently- the fact that he wants children and because of my emetophobia, I don't. he has seen me panic and have attacks before about going into bathrooms I'm not comfortable in (on new years eve a kid got drunk and was sick in there for most of the evening, until he later passed out in a bedroom. the house I was at only had one bathroom, most people were much too wasted to drive anywhere, and I had a UTI and needed to pee badly but couldn't go in that bathroom no matter how or who said they're clean it. I completely flipped out). He thinks that if we were to have children and for some reason they were to get sick,I would have to leave. And because kids get sick a lot, I probably wouldn't be a very involved parent or around in much of their lives. Not the least of which, assuming my husband would have a job, him always taking time off of work instead of us dividing it up would be difficult as well. And his fears are accurate. At this point in my life, I don't think I would be able to handle a child if they were to get sick. I've been in the situation babysitting before and I paniced. I had to call my parents to do it for me, and I could never go in the room it happened in again, much less go anywhere near the child.


I would definately suggest some sort of treatment before having children. I would also recommend before having children of your own, try taking care of other people's kids (if you have a brother or sister with kids, try watching them for a weekend or something).


If you do have kids, always remember that you will have support (hopefully). I know that there were times when we were little kids and we got sick that my grandmother came over to care for us when mom had work or meetings to go to. Or there were times when the whole family was sick and we'd have the neighbor coming over to take care of us. Also- whoever your partner is, they should be supportive as well. If the kids get sick in the middle of the night, it shouldn't always be you going to deal with it...he needs to help out too especially if he knows about your phobia.


Ultimately, follow your heart and don't doubt yourself. Kids are probably wonderful to have and relative in comparison, there will be so many more times than not where the kids won't get sick and you can enjoy your time with them.