Thank your everyone for your support. It does help to know that I'm not alone. :)
I have taken a few steps to try to easy my mental burden. On Saturday night in the pub with a few beers inside me, I came out to my mate. He's shared this info with his wife & they are both supportive.
Tonight I've just come back from another friends house after telling him & his wife. They are both supportive too.
Tonight's 'coming out' was so hard & I really struggled to fight back the emotional tears & to say what I wanted.
Obviously I've had to answer many questions & apparently I've handled myself very well in explaining about the situation. (so my mate tonight told me.)
I've still got a long way to go with informing other friends & I've still to tell my father, brother & sister-in-law.
And of course I still have the task of introducing Carla to everyone.