‘What’s something about your life that is out of the ordinary?’ – 21 people with a quietly remarkable existence

‘Never judge a book by its cover’ is a bit of a cliché, but it’s certainly true that judging people, and what they might have going on in their lives, at first glance can never give us the full, complex pictures.

They’ve been discussing this on the AskUK subreddit after PaddedValls posted this:

What’s something about your life that is out of the ordinary? My partner and I had our son when we were both 19, then we amicably split when he was around 2 or 3, had other partners and kids, then got back together when we were 35.

So, we have our first son together, a step-son and a step-daughter respectively, and are now expecting a little girl in May. Not the most conventional household, but it works.

Lots of people chipped in with the ways in which, for better or worse, their lives are not like other people’s, like these…

1.

‘I married my ex wife twice, went the same way both times but was mostly good times. I don’t regret remarrying her at all, would consider a third go after the dusts settles.’
–RaveyDave666

2.

‘I have a condition called MRKH Syndrome, which means I was born without a uterus or vagina, but with otherwise typical female appearance and hormones.

‘I also moved to the UK when I was 24 after marrying my husband one week after we met in person for the first time (we’d known each other online for a few years and had been talking on the phone for a good while before then.) We have now been married for nearly half our lives!’
–UniqueTart6744

3.

‘My older half sister is 25 years older than me, and my younger half sister is 10 years below. Same dad, all different mums. The older half sister had a son about 9 months before I was born… so I was born an aunt. Meaning my younger half sister was born an aunt to an 11-year-old boy.

‘My nephew then went on to have his first child at 22… so I became a great aunt aged 21, and my younger half sister became a great aunt aged 11.’
–Feisty_River_1747

4.

‘I have 30 rescued parrots (mostly small ones, but still). Our home revolves around keeping them healthy and happy. I do not sleep well in the summer because of the racket they make at dawn. They are worth it.’
–gentletonberry

5.

‘I’ve spent most of my adult life living abroad and travelling. I’m in my mid 30s now and still don’t want to stop.’
–LevelOneForever

6.

‘I am a bottomless pit. I can eat 5-7k kcal a day without restraint and don’t experience normal fullness or satiety signals.’
–NotedEccentric

7.

‘I am the opposite. I rarely feel hunger, don’t know what food noise is and eating sometimes feels like torture. But I have to because food is required for life. It’s an effort to ensure I get a minimum of 1500cals in a day and I have reminders on my phone to eat. Not on any drugs at all, have been this way all my life.’
–Routine_Butterfly629

8.

‘I grew up in caravans in the 90s with no electricity or running water and a black and white TV powered by a leisure battery.’
–Organic_Reporter

9.

‘I live by barter. It means I never really have money, bit it feels better than toiling away for someone else’s luxuries.’
–GrimMendacity

10.

‘I’m a polyamorous transgender woman who enjoys a wide and varied sex life. I spent last night with someone who has both sets of the ‘traditional’ genitalia having met through an ex of mine who is currently a partner of hers.

‘I also recently went on a date with my girlfriend’s girlfriend (it went well). My organisational game be strong.’
–MacFunJess

11.

‘I had a job offer to work in Moscow that got rescinded, so decided on a whim to move to China for one year instead. I came back when I got married six years later.’
–JonnotheMackem

12.

‘I was amongst the first people in the uk to have leg lengthening surgery, and as a result, my left femur is held together by a metal plate and a bone graft from my pelvis.’
–InkedDoll1