I never wanted to get married. But when I got pregnant, everything changed.

We’ve now been married almost 10 years

At the very end, it said, “You’re the girl of my dreams. Will you be my wife?” When I turned around, Sam was down on one knee, holding a sparkling diamond ring. His eyes shone with tears.

“Yes, I will,” I said, bursting into tears and wrapping my arms around him. At that moment, my fears about commitment vanished for good, and all I felt was happiness to have found my special person in this world, the one I would spend the rest of my life with.

Later that evening, we went out for an amazing dinner and called our family and friends to share the happy news. They all joked that it had been a long time coming.

Three months later, we were married at a vineyard on the Gold Coast. I’ll never forget waking up the first morning after the wedding and saying, “Good morning, husband.” It felt surreal and strange, in a good way.

Getting pregnant changed my headspace about marriage and helped me think of the future differently. I’d worried that marriage might change how Sam and I felt about each other or make the relationship prematurely stale, but the reality was the opposite. Taking those vows solidified our feelings and made us stronger as a couple. The formality of being married did make a difference, and almost 10 years on, we’re still going strong.