Modern families come in all forms. Some have just one parent, stepmums, stepdads, two mums, two dads; each has their own uniqueness. But it can still be difficult for new partners to navigate their way into an existing family.
Storm Keating, wife of Boyzone singer Ronan Keating and mum to baby Cooper, opened up about this to Sunday Independent Life magazine, saying that when she first met her now-husband, she wasn't sure if having a child would be possible.
"When I first met Ronan, I didn’t really know if parenthood was something we would share together. He already had three children — Jack (19), Missy (17) and Ali (12) — so that, of course, was something to consider. I had to be really thoughtful, even though I really wanted children of my own, whether it would be the right dynamic for everyone involved. I couldn’t just consider myself, but also Ronan and the kids," she explained.
Keating is a natural, hands-on mum; her Instagram is updated daily with snaps of adorable baby Cooper - who will turn one this April - and though she explained she knew she always wanted children, she said, that initially, Ronan wasn't sure he wanted any more.
"The truth is that when we first met, Ro wasn’t sure if he wanted to have any more children. We talked about it, and as difficult as it was for me to hear, I understood why he felt that way, and had to decide if that was a deal-breaker for me," the Australian TV producer continued.
Keating said that ultimately she chose to be with Ronan, knowing that children might never have been a possibility for them in the early days of their relationship.
"It was heartbreaking at the time because I always wanted to have children, so it was such a hard decision… but I loved him with every bone in my body, and I knew that although it was a huge sacrifice, I could live without children of my own, but I just couldn’t live without him."
So I chose Ro, and that was that. It was about a year after that when he surprised me while we were out to dinner, and we were laughing at a little baby girl at the table next to us. He turned to me and said, ‘You’ll make a great mammy one day,’ before adding that he had changed his mind and would love us to have a child together. I had no idea that was coming and I was so overwhelmed."
"I had made my choice and I was happy with it, but then it was just so amazing to hear that he wanted to share that with me."
Keating added that nothing could have prepared her for the joy of becoming a mum, but did say that her pregnancy wasn't all smooth sailing, explaining that though she loved actually being pregnant, the first three months were "atrocious."
"I loved being pregnant. I miss my tummy and rubbing it, even though the first three months were atrocious. I had awful morning sickness, and we were on Ronan’s world tour for all of that time. It was off the Richter scale; I would just lie on the floor of a dressing room, anywhere, no matter how filthy. It was terrible. But as soon as the first few months were over, it was like a lightbulb going on. I got all my energy back."
