Girlfriend breaks up with her 34-year-old boyfriend because he hasn't seen his daughter since April of 2025: 'He sold himself as a great present dad, and I bought it.'

She's smart for leaving now, because the same thing that happened to his ex-girlfriend would happen to her.

It's important to look at people's dating history before you seriously consider a future with them. I'm not saying you should reject anyone without a perfect track record, but there are some things you should consider. If someone has never been in a long-term relationship, that might be a red flag, depending on both of your ages. If they're 24, who cares? If they're 40, there might be a reason for that. 

For many of us, it's less critical to suss out what someone hasn't done in previous relationships than to figure out what they have done. If they have been married previously, it might demonstrate to you that they have the capacity to commit to something so serious. Then again, it could mean they tend to commit too hard and too fast, especially if they've been married and divorced multiple times. 

One of the most important things to investigate is if your partner has children, and if they do, how they treat them. For many young people, it is a total dealbreaker to date somebody who has kids from a previous relationship. For others, it's much more important that their partner takes their duties as a mother or father seriously, and doesn't just let their ex take on all the child-rearing. If you want to have kids, you should only do it with someone who takes parenting seriously, and deadbeat parents don't take parenting seriously.