I forgot to mention another turning point with my ex.
As mentioned, early on I thought that going bigger was something she had been entertaining. Apparently I'd been reading too much into it. To find out what happened, read on.
I had some vacation time to burn, so I stayed home a couple days. She went off to work, so I called a few plastic surgery clinics in town (this was pre-internet, so I was lacking the resources we now consider to be commonplace). Those conversations were quite short, and basically amounted to a ballpark price and basically "let us know if/when she wants to book a consult". That was it.
I was like, okay. Time to have the conversation. So once she was home from work and settled, I broached the subject. And maybe it wasn't as smooth as it should have been, I dunno.
She looked at me like I had 2 heads. She said "I am NOT putting foreign objects inside my body!" She might even have said "what made you think I wanted that?", but it was a long time ago. It didn't matter one bit that she'd had dental work which involved "putting foreign objects" into her body.
It's definitely a difficult subject to broach, if the two of you aren't on the same page. It's probably a difficult subject to broach if it's never been broached before, even if the two of you are on the same exact page. Lots of "are you sure / yeah I'm sure but are you" conversations. It can be a bit of a game-changer, if one or both of you aren't as fully dialed-in to the possible consequences (such as more attention, possibly unwanted attention).
When I met my ex, I don't know that I was as deep into my fondness for big boobs (fake or otherwise) as I clearly am now. I mean, it's possible I was, but it was such an exceptionally uncommon occurrence (seeing a woman with big boobs) that I don't think I really knew myself. I knew I was a boob man, but at the time, I suppose I was just happy that a woman was as into me as I was into her. I didn't have 'game' at all, and certainly didn't expend the effort to try going to different places (ie, kept going to the same places).
Another angle on all this is that amongst my circle of friends, none of them seemed to be particularly smitten by women with big boobs. Meaning, it just wasn't a consideration at all. The classic "more than a handful's a waste" saying. In one oddly irritating twist, my one friend ended up with an attractive woman who had a fairly prominent pair. When I mentioned it to him, he was basically like "*shrug* they're just boobs".
In another plot twist, another friend of mine (after I'd professed to him my particular bent) mentioned having done a bit of a long distance thing with one woman who, it turns out, had a rather significant pair. It wasn't until after he got with her that he then told me later on "that's when I finally understood what it was you liked about them". To be fair, he may or may not have fully appreciated it in the way I appreciate them, but I'm also not gonna say "you're a big fake phony". We like what we like, and I happily welcomed him to the club.
Anyway. To any single guys out there thinking "I'd rather be in any relationship than waiting forever for the perfect woman", I say this: if big boobs (fake or otherwise) are important to you, then make sure you either lay it all out there early in the relationship, or make sure you tell yourself (and her) that this will be at best a temporary relationship. She might (emphasis on *might*) appreciate it if you're honest with her, she might not appreciate you telling her that her boobs don't measure up. All about the timing and the phrasing (and the woman, and the man). Something like "I get it, you'll never get breast implants, and that's fine, so long as you're fine with us just having fun until whenever" might work out. It won't, if she's looking to settle down, of course. You might get along famously. Don't stay single if you're unhappy being single, but as long as you're single, get out there and do fun shit that doesn't require being with a woman, you might meet someone interesting. For example, years ago I thought it was time to get my motorcycle license, so I did one of those weekend training/certification courses. There was one woman there who seemed to click with me, and her rack was hard to miss. Maybe she was engaging because I wasn't trying to hit on her, I dunno. I just thought it was odd that she was there and her husband wasn't. Like, this seemed like something fun to do together. The point being, there are single women out there who have decided they're not gonna sit by the phone or go to bars and let life pass them by.
Fwiw, when I was living in another state, I'd found an online Yahoo chat group which was mostly localized. Eventually a bunch of us got together for dinner and pub nights. I'd made it abundantly clear online what I liked, and wouldn't let anyone try to shame me for it. It got to the point that it was a bit of a running gag; I don't recall there being any women who were disgusted with my position (or if there were, they were in the minority), and there was one who even told me she would consider getting a boobjob. I no longer clearly recall whether there was a "... for you, if we were dating" attached to it, but I do remember her telling me she used to have huge boobs and got a reduction. We had no other chemistry, so I just politely said "uh-huh" and left it at that.
Apologies if this sounds like dating advice. In a way, I'm venting a little. I wish I could take my knowledge and understanding and wisdom (such as it is) and send it back in time to my 20-year old self. Although I did have various relationships of varying quality and duration, there's something to be said for unambiguously knowing what you want and refusing to compromise, while still being a kind and caring person. If what I have is a weakness or a twisted kink, then I'm glad to have met someone to share it with. Damn glad to have gotten that out there very early on, too.