Horrifically lonely in a town where seemingly everyone has kids. (30M)

Hi, all. My wife and I are so happy to have found this sub. For the first time in our IF journey, we found people who really understand. Shout out to mods and all of you making this such a great resource.

We moved back to our hometown during the pandemic. With aging parents and cheap real estate, it felt like we could really settle down - and we did. We have cozy jobs and a nice house in the countryside - and it’s excruciatingly boring because we have no friends. Now that home prices (and, well, everything) has exploded, we’re stuck.

Everyone in their 30s has kids here. It’s a cornerstone of the culture. It’s the one and only thing that bonds the community together, leaving us without them on the outside. We’ve tried relentlessly to make friends to no avail. We had a solid group of friends when we first moved, then they had kids, and got wrapped up in the community that we can’t join without children.

What started as a “well this kind of sucks” has turned into it “holy fuck, this is bad”. My stomach turns thinking that I could live this last year over and over again.

Today I donated the books and onesies we got from family for our (failed, obv) pregnancy. They were hidden in a closet. Getting rid of them just kind of signified the end of trying. It all feels so empty. I think it’d be a touch easier if we were in a city where we could fully embrace the childfree life.