A man will usually bring this up himself if that what he is thinking. I'm sure there are exceptions - as there always are but hearing it from him without a clever questioning tecnique from us is a surefire way to know he is sincere.

I think it was three months or so after my bf and I became exclusive (we were flatmates so I had to be very careful how I handled that one!) that he asked me if I would like to marry him. You can imagine how shocked I was! He has continued to bring it up from then until now and I have complete confidence in him that he'll be true to that.

How long have you been with this guy? Has he been very definite that he wants to be with you exclusively? If i'm wondering about something I'll use other 'outside' situations to get a feel for what my bf thinks about certain matters. Like, for example, if there was a news article/doco on TV about raising children I'd get a little verbal....'thats interesting' etc....then something like 'what do you think of that?' may be all it takes to lead into that kind of conversation.

I guess asking like this is less confrontational than 'so, do you want to have kids?' If you see what I mean. So long as you keep it light hearted he can't get freaked out. If he is thinking long term with you chances are he may seize the opportunity. Be aware also that even if a guy is REALLY into you he can still run for the hills if you start putting the pressure on. Guys under 30 may take up to a year to figure out if they want a long term commitment with you. Usually a guy will have a fair idea at about 6 months if you COULD be the 'one'.

More info would be good! Hope this helps :)