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What are your experiences with polyamory, first or second hand? (feddit.nl)

submitted 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I personally am in a phenomenally stable polyamorous relationship. I've been married to my wife for 12 years, and she has had the same boyfriend for about half of that time. It's a really fulfilling arrangement for all of us in various ways. We're all genuinely happy and satisfied. I'm kind of casually looking for a boyfriend of my own.

But I feel like I only hear negative stories about other poly experiences. It's always unstable people and situations. It's always two out of three people happy at most. Surely there are other success stories out there, and I just hear the disasters because they're more memorable and fun to tell. Does anyone else have or know a polyamory success story?

EDIT: This blew up a little while I was asleep. I promise I'm at least reading every comment.

EDIT 2.0: ngl I did not expect the trope of polyamory to fix a struggling relationship would be so real. We did just the opposite and are both baffled. Don't use volitility to fight the volitility.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I'm polyamorous myself, with a girlfriend of about 18 months and another of nearly a year. Both my relationships are stable and very fulfilling, and also relaxed and laid-back. It takes more communication to have it work but for me I can't even imagine living any other way, polyamory feels right for me and me and my partners are happier than we've ever been.

Granted, my relationships aren't a case of opening an existing partnership, but rather I talked about the fact that I'm polyamorous to each partner very early on before we even considered a relationship. Most drama I've seen in polyamory comes from one partner in a monogamous pair wanting "more" and so the decision is pretty one sided, and neither is willing to really put in the work and communication that healthy polyamory requires. Every polyamorous person I know that started their relationships as polyamorous is healthy and happy in their partnerships.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

We opened up an existing relationship, but it was more my idea for her to have a boyfriend. I knew she romanticized affairs and infidelity. I knew that her experience of being with a man romantically and physically is meaningfully different from how we are together. And I've just never been that sort of possessive, so I encouraged her to seek out something I couldn't give her

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

I'm really happy it's working out for you! I'm not saying that all existing partnerships opening to polyamory are doomed to fail or are inferior in any way, just that from what I've seen they're much harder to pull off, possibly because people tend to open relationships for the wrong reasons. But when it does work out and everyone involved is entirely on board and is willing to put in the work, they can absolutely be beautiful and healthy relationships.