This reads true. I have no doubt millions of women (and men) would relate to it, regardless whether they have ever considered making the same choice.

Our culture sets us up for the emptiness and frustration you were feeling, by selling us the fantasy of a life-long love affair with one person, played out at the same time as the unromantic work of building families and careers and meeting all the challenges of life in a rapidly changing world.

It also sets us up by equating desire and desirability with youth, when truly it takes years to learn how to appreciate and fully inhabit our sexual bodies and lose our self-consciousness enough to be fully present with each other.

I salute you for a well-crafted story and a brave decision.