Since I was a little girl, I dreamt of a fairy-tale ending, of growing up and falling in love, settling down and starting a family of my own. When I was eight, my parents split up but instead of making me afraid of relationships and commitment, it only made me want it more. Playing with my doll’s house, there was always a mum, dad and lots of children in my games, and, perhaps somewhat naively, I always just assumed that ideal family set-up would come true for me one day. But, of course, real life isn’t like a fairy story and throughout my 20s and 30s one failed relationship seemed to follow another.
I turned to online dating apps in the hope of finding someone I envisaged a future with. But every time, it ended in heartache and I’d call my mum, Jackie, in tears. Mum always comforted me and while she
