Pain of endless wait for ring

Shirley examines the dangers of love gone bad
Maggie met Rob ten years ago when she was 24. She had just finished college and was now looking for a man to marry. Rob was everything she wanted in a man. He was good looking, well behaved, responsible and had a well paying job. They started dating.
After two years, Rob asked her to move in with him. She was so exited because she believed his invitation was a sign of commitment and that he was ready to settle down. So she happily packed her belongings and moved into his house. When two years turned into four and he had not mentioned marriage even once, she got worried and asked for advice from her friends. They told her to get pregnant to pave way for marriage. In 2007, she became pregnant.
Her boyfriend was very supportive and she assumed marriage would be on the cards. But after giving birth to their son, life went on as usual. Early last year, she got pregnant again and had a baby girl in October.
Dodging requestsThis time it was unplanned. During her second pregnancy, Rob was still very supportive but did not mention marriage. She tried again to discuss the matter but Rob always found away to avoid the topic. Even though he had met her relatives and vice versa, he never bothered to formalise the relationship even traditionally, yet they had been living together for eight years. She had tried to initiate a traditional wedding but Rob was an artful dodger and nothing came out of it.
Maggie claimed she just turned 35 a week ago and she is not only unmarried but has two children. She has reached a stage in her life where she needs a concrete relationship and better defined than come-we-stay. Maggie wants advice on what to do. She says she did not even want a big wedding but legal recognition of their union.
My advice to Maggie is that if being married is important to her, then she needs to give her boyfriend an ultimatum. She should be brave enough to confront him and to ask him if he ever intends to marry her. Besides, she is not getting any younger and it is not fair to have lived with this man for over eight years acting like his wife and deliver two kids only to be denied marriage. If the man’s reply is dodgy or not clear, she should jump ship because if a man loves you, he will respect and marry you and not drag you along forever.