A woman has revealed she has spent thousands to send her children on holiday this summer so that she can continue her illicit affair with her lover.
Mum-of-two Georgia, from Leeds, met her lover on the married-dating website Illicit Encounters - and the pair have been arranging frequent meet-ups when her husband goes to work.
The 44-year-old has two teenage children, who are returning home from their universities for the summer holidays.
While she is happy to see them, she has been looking for ways to continue her love affair while her kids are back home.
The woman said she felt distraught at the prospect of her affair having to take a backseat, so she looked for a solution to ensure she will still be able to meet her lover.
Georgia revealed that she felt the only way to continue seeing the man she is having an affair with is to send her kids off backpacking over the summer.
She admitted she spent well over £4,000 on interrail tickets to allow both of her children to travel around Europe.
The woman said: "It was the only solution I could find to continue my affair without the kids in the picture. It probably sounds extreme and like a lot of money to some people but it's a small amount to pay for everyone's happiness, including mine.
"I did want to treat them for finishing their studies for the year too, so it wasn't totally out of the blue. I just can't deal with the prospect of having to cut things off with my lover. And this was a win-win for everyone in my eyes."
Georgia said that when her children left the home to go to university, she was excited to spend some quality time with her husband - but everything since then has "fallen apart".
She explained: "Our relationship is so one-sided, it's me suggesting going on dates or doing things together and he just drags his heels at every opportunity. It feels like he doesn't want to spend time with me at all.
"He does know that I'm unhappy, he's probably unhappy too, to be honest, but we've always agreed we'd stay together for the kids, at least until they've moved out."
Illicit Encounters asked 2,000 of its members how they go about having children and seeking out affairs.
Of those polled, 41% revealed a "strong urge" to seek an affair when their offspring moved out of the family home for the first time.
A further 67% claimed their children flying the nest was the first time they had considered seeking an affair.
A staggering 26% admitted to putting their affair on hold when the kids come home from term time, while 11% said they couldn not wait for term time to restart to continue their secret tryst.
Jessica Leoni, sex and relationship guru for the dating website, said: "Marriage breakdowns when the kids fly the nest - also known as Empty Nest Syndrome - is something we frequently see as the cause for affairs on illicitencounters.com.
"It's understandably a massive change going from having people rely and depend on you, to feeling completely alone in your household, and can cause drastic changes in the dynamics of couples.
"Interestingly 70% of our members do say that having an affair has improved their marriage, and Georgia is just one example of someone who has found solace in a lover.
"What I would say is that anyone seeking an affair in these circumstances shouldn't feel guilty about it. It's often the first time in over 18 years parents have had any sort of 'me time' and if it helps them to feel normal and happy in between all the other changes going on, then who's to stop them."
