I'm (25f) now at a point in my life where I feel open to dating someone. I've been going to therapy for many years and have negative experiences with men in my past.
For the majority of my life I denied everything feminine about myself and went for gender neutral. I despised the idea of having children and asked to get my tubes tied when I was 15 but was laughed out of the office.
Over the last year I've felt my values shifting and now I just want to find a partner build my own family and pour all the love I have into it. I just have no idea where to start? I am excited to have ambitions for my future again but I'm also terrified of taking the first step.
I haven't ever really dated and I'm scared of dating people who are abusive or no one wanting to date someone inexperienced like me. Any sort of advice would be nice. Is there a way to get to know someone's values and moral standing within the first few dates without it being forced? I don't want to blindly invest energy and time only to find out we can't agree on a fundamental thing.