Look. Don't shoot the messenger. I already said I don't like the message.

Also, they are instincts for a reason. It has nothing to do with if they want children or not.

No on is on the wrong path. What path you should take depends on your goal. But if you want to develop a romantic relationship, you have a goal. And not all roads lead to that goal, obviously. Only a small number of paths lead there. Especially when we are talking about healthy and successful romantic relationships, because let's be frank; most romantic relationships out there are flawed.

These girls you talk about, you were never interested in more than a platonic friendship? If so, why did nothing happen between you and them? Assuming not all of them were never single.

If you want a girl that's not physically attractive, you suddenly have way less competition and there is way less pressure on you to show you are superior to all the other men out there that this girl could get if she was more attractive.

I know there is a big difference between saying the 'right' thing and doing the 'right' thing. I can't practice what I preach. But at least by now I can accept this is how it is. I used not to be able to do so.
At least you have what you would call friends. I don't.

A lot of people here will say supporting things, things to make you feel better. But if you want change in your life, you have to change things.

Think in small steps. Don't tell yourself you were born a certain way, have been dealt a certain hand in life, and can never change or improve.
You don't have to deny who you are, just adjust and evolve as you progress through life.

Don't reduce something as social skills or masculinity to one specific quality you lack.

Don't say you don't want a short relationship. A relationship happens on a day to day, or moment to moment, basis, be it romantic or platonic. If you only start a relationship when you know it is long-term, you won't be starting one, ever. If you tell a the average woman that you are only interested in long term relationships, you can count on it that that will drop her interest.

As a male your duty is to make sure she has a fun time when she is with you, whatever 'fun' means to her. It is her job to decide on when you have a relationship. As a man, it is not your decision to make.

Romance is the most unfair endeavor humans engage in. You can't ask for fairness. No one is telling you you have to engage in it. You can be a male girlfriend and nothing else, as you have experienced. No one is saying you can't have a happy satisfied life if you don't experience romance.
But if you want to go after woman not a lot of other men are interested in, then that's a huge bonus. If it is ever shown that less attractive woman have better personalities and are more suited for healthy relationships, I won't be surprised.

Consider how unfair romance is to unattractive woman.