Sperm Limits

I'm a 32-year-old woman who doesn't particularly like kids. I told my last boyfriend I didn't want kids, but three years in, he said he wanted a family and left. He said he thought I'd eventually change my mind. How do I keep this from happening again?

--Nobody's Mom

You can't just sit down on the first date and ask a man if his semen has a lifeplan. But, let a kid-wanting man get attached (even second date-attached) and he'll want to believe you'll eventually mommy up. So right on date one, you need to drop into conversation that you aren't a "kid person." Make sure a guy responds like he's gotten the bottom-line message: His sperm, your egg, they ain't gonna party. Now, some guys might not have fully considered the issue of kids, so you might weave the subject in on subsequent dates for reinforcement. If you're 22, a major compatibility issue is "Eeuw, you like Coldplay?" At 32, you really need to know up front if one of you is musing "I wonder what we'll name the twins" and the other's thinking "Whatever they called them at the pound is fine by me."