Let me preface this by saying I know I am in the wrong. Please be kind. I’m trying to figure out if we can both get what we want or if I need to give everything up in order to keep my husband.

Husband (48) and I (42) have been married over 20 years. Got into the lifestyle 4 years ago. Started off with just threesomes. Moved to hooking up with couples, always together.

It’s been fun but never super fulfilling to me. I have always had the desire to explore things separately. I am 100% willing to give my husband that opportunity as well.

2 months ago, we met a couple and hit it off pretty well. We text separately and almost everyday. My husband has expressed to me that he hates sharing me, doesn’t want to hook up with the same people anymore, doesn’t want me doing anything separately, even texting. He wants us to only go to clubs and hook up with random people. He’s ok with repeating a couple, as long as we don’t communicate in between.

I’m very sad. The sex is so much better to me when I can build a connection with the person. I was very much hoping that one day, my husband would let me explore things separately and discover a different side of myself (we have only ever been with each other before we started the lifestyle).

I know me asking to build connections and do separate things goes beyond “swinging” and that it’s not fair to him to make him uncomfortable. I also know it’s his insecurities that are the main reason he won’t let me.

Do I give up this part of me? Practice the lifestyle in the way he’s comfortable with, even if it’s not ideal for me? I will say, the idea of giving up the lifestyle altogether really bums me out. I was finally starting to feel like my own person outside of wife and mom.

What do I do?

My husband and I have decided to bring another man in. The third and I have been texting for the last week and a half, I wanted to make him feel less awkward when we met last Friday. When we met we all clicked really well, my husband likes him a lot. Since meeting, we continued chatting and last night him and I sexted pretty intensely. My husband reads all of our chats on his phone. He said this morning he wants to call it all off because if he felt weird about reading how we chatted then he probably wouldn’t be okay when push comes to shove and he’s in front of us. My question is, is F sexting with second M usually what happens? Did I make a mistake by texting him so much? This is all of our first times potentially having a 3sum.

I recently shared with my wife that I fantasized about sharing her with other men sexually. The idea excited us both and led to some amazing sex. We agreed and began to explore this together. As we went to set up our first experience over the course of a few days, we began using apps and websites to find other couples and potentially males to have a threesome with. However, what began as a threesome or couple fantasy quickly evolved into her wanting to be able to sleep with other man without me there, in addition to experiences sharing her with other men. In particular she wants to have sex with one man without whom she built a connection over cooler days. Although it is hot, I am hesitant because this connection is troubling.

So my wife and I had on occasions talked about threesomes or other people we’ve been with previously usually during sex. I like the idea of talking dirty in terms of brining in a third more than likely another male as of right now probably just strictly dirty talking. But how do I open up about this kink? If there’s a post already please refer me to it or reply! Thanks

Been ENM for about a year. My wife and I enjoy threesomes and group sex.

Anyway, we use Feeld and have had a bit of success, but we don't live in a super big city so exhausted most matches. Our neighbour popped up on there... and has liked my wife. Now, my wife's profile is of her in a bikini without her face showing, or photos of the back of her head. I feel like if you knew her, you may recognise her. Obviously it only says 1km away on the app too.

We don't know if she's matched my wife because she's a hot woman she doesn't recognise, or because my wife is the hot neighbour that she does. We've spoken a few times only, and have a mutual friend. I don't know what a smart next move would be? Me and my wife are down, and really intrigued

So I'm encountering a bit of an issue in my relationship with my fiancee and I'm not sure how to go about handling it. My fiancee (Bella, 29) is an extremely affectionate person. She's very forward with most people she meets especially other trans women and has many flirtatious friendships that include a lot of sending nudes and such. This is pretty normal among a lot of her friends and it's been important to her to get to have that kind of a loose line with friends. I'm fine with it, I feel jealousy from time to time when it feels like she's a bit absorbed in it, but for the most part I just roll with it and listen if she wants to talk about it.

What's starting to get to me is the PDA. She kisses a lot of her friends when she sees them and straight up makes out with a few of them. She also likes to snuggle and hold hands and stuff. Generally I'm fine, but if it gets to be too much, I direct my attention elsewhere as I don't want to make her feel bad for doing it. She's felt quite sensitive about her affectionate nature and sometimes she feels like a slut in a positive ways while other times she feels like a slut in negative ways an I don't want to contribute to the negative ways.

But the other night we went to a movie with one of these friends who she's fooled around with in the past (we also had a bit of a relationship hiccup due to miscommunication in regard to this friend and what was going on) and for the most part the evening was fine, we went to dinner and hung out, but when we were watching the movie in the theatre, they were touching on each other quite a lot. Lots of cuddling, nuzzling, touching each other's thighs, and I honestly got really uncomfortable. I was also feeling generally crappy so I think it hit me harder but I really didn't want to be around that kind of PDA and ended up taking an extended bathroom break and sitting in the back of the theatre for a bit to collect myself. I definitely am a person who feels some jealousy and I do my best to deal with it healthily and not let it affect Bella but I also feel like it was a bit much to be all over each other and groping especially when I couldn't exactly remove myself from the situation without just completely separating from my fiancee.

I tried to talk to Bella about this today, and admittedly I picked a bad time to do it because she was feeling sensitive about how she appears to other people because she's so affectionate, and she didn't take it well. I told her I didn't think I could handle being at gatherings if this was the level of affection she was going to show toward her friends and that I wouldn't attend things like the movie in the future. She was really hurt as she'd been looking foward to having some of these friends over to our house to watch movies and when I told her she could still do that, I'd just find something else to do, she told me that she wanted to be able to have and hold me while still being able to love on her friends like that. She said she felt so ashamed of herself for even wanting it and kind of started to spiral and I'm kind of at a loss here. I'm trying to compromise as best I can without asking too much of myself but it feels like she's so hurt by the options I offer because she thinks she's hurting me when that isn't the case.

It is worth noting that she's been generally feeling much more sensitive and emotional as of late so I don't know if she would have reacted so strongly if she weren't already feeling quite so tender, but it breaks my heart to hear her talk about herself this way and I'm worried maybe I'm just being overly sensitive and should just learn how to deal with it. It's not like she's fucking people right in front of me or whatever.

I think I need some outside perspective.

Context
I (f25) have been with my wife (f26 we’ll call her A) on and off since highschool, married for 2 years. When we first started dating we were monogamous then we broke up because i was having a manic episode. After the break up we stopped talking for 6 months and in that time i got a boyfriend (we’ll call him B). We started talking again after i had lots of therapy to work out my issues and stayed friends even though we both wanted to get back together. After being with B for about a year and a half we decided to open our relationship and started seeing other girls together and separately. One of these girls ended up over at our place while i was hanging out with A. A expressed interest in sleeping with her and i, B was ok with it, so we did. That was the catalyst for becoming a triad with A and B. The three of us were happy for a while even though A and B weren’t the biggest fans of each other. A is lesbian so they weren’t dating each other but they kept the peace for my sake. B and i had unrelated issues with our relationship so we ended up breaking up. After the break up i was too busy with life events to actively pursue other relationships, romantic or sexual, so it was just me and A. A few years later we ended up getting married.

After A and i got married we had a discussion about if we should have the relationship be poly, open, or closed. She has no desire to be in a poly relationship on her part and doesnt want to have sex with others without me. I dont care one way or another about having another poly relationship (if so great if not thats cool too) but would like to be open for me at least (if she wanted to be open im ok with that too). During this talk we decided that we weren’t going to be poly but if i wanted to have sex with men that would be fine, women would be a case by case basis if it was just me or both of us. We didnt pursue any other relationship afterwards but it was good to establish boundaries. Now that life has calmed down a bit im interested in pursing sex with a guy, like we agreed was ok. I asked her about it again just to make sure everything was still ok and the first conversation she said she was fine. The next day though, A had told me that she had thought about it more and it bothered her thinking of me with another guy. She had insecurities about herself and our sex life and was feeling jealous just of the idea of me with someone else. I reassured her that i loved her, i wasnt going to leave her, and that wanting to be open again wasn’t because of anything she did or didnt do. We are currently doing more things to make her feel more secure in our relationship and talking to our individual therapists about it (Her appointment was today and mine is this friday).
Are we handling this properly, is there anything else we can do? Im worried that she’ll want to stay monogamous and ill be feeling stuck. I love her and i want to spend the rest of my life with her but i also want to explore this part of my life without feeling like shes making a compromise she doesnt want.

Tldr: started off mono, became an open triad, was mono again, wanted to be open again, wife says no. Help

Wife (31f) and I(34m) are recently opened up. We're currently "dating" another couple and each have another partner or 2 depending on when you ask.

Wanting to meet more people in the lifestyle locally. I know about soapies and also have heard of FTF but haven't attended either YET. Are there any meetups/bars/clubs that I'm missing.

My biggest issue is meeting ladies that are okay with my situation and I'm figuring it's probably best to find some circles that are already part of the lifestyle. I'm also on feeld but I feel like that app isn't going to do much for me unless I start sinking money into it

Hi all,

I guess i´m writing this post to see if anyone might be able to offer some insight. I (m35) just came out of a long (10yr) relationship.

It was a good relationship, with a good person but in the end it didn't work anymore, mostly for me. For some reason, I felt an extreme suffocation being in a monogamous relationship. We lived together, went on holidays together, managed the household together and had the same days off from work together.

Over the years, I think it led to a point where I felt it literally was just too much. My ex was also a very traditional type. I wouldn't really be able to bring up the idea of sleeping with other people outside of our relationship. That would simply be a no-go.

And so, we both never did. We played by the rules, were generally happy, until we reached a point where things weren't going well anymore and I started to feel suffocated.

Since then, I've been reading about different forms of relationships. I never thought of myself as Polyamorous, and am still not sure whether that applies to me.

But what I found out is that the thought that my future partner, has potentially more partners than me, feels extremely liberating. Not being the only person she depends on anymore for things, not being the only person she wants to go on holidays with, or spend her weekends with. I can't help but feel that that would be a very liberating feeling for me.

Besides that, I don't think I would want to live together anymore. I'm very fond of my own space. Not only am I very fond of it, it's a neccessity for me to really unwind in this busy life.

Also, personally, i'm really not the jealous type. If it means she is intimate with those partners, I really don't think that would bother me too much.

An added benefit would be that I would get the opportunity to be intimate with others. I'm a pretty singularly focussed person. As in, I usually tend to only really like one person, not multiple people. But sleeping with other people is different, throughout my last relationship i've Always felt that it was something I would like to explore. Having sex with other people outside the relationship.

Anyways, this was a strange realisation for me. Mostly the first thought, that a partner with multiple partners could feel like less pressure.

I wonder what the reality is like though, and if other people have had the same insight?

Forgive me if this sounds really naive but I’m looking to explore a dynamic with a female (ff) while her partner (m) watches. What does this entail exactly? Is it different for everyone? Is he just like naked in the room masturbating? Does he talk or tell us what he wants us to do? I’m sure it’s based on personal choices but I’m just needing a general idea of what to expect?

Hey everyone! ❤️
My boyfriend and I are currently monogamous, but we’re planning to explore polyamory when we move to a new city. This would be my first experience with any kind of nonmonogamy, and I’m hoping to hear from people who’ve actually lived this lifestyle.
I’ve never really explored my sexuality, but I know I’m not straight. I’m still figuring myself out, and I don’t necessarily have all the answers yet.
My boyfriend is pretty set on the idea of us having a girlfriend together. I’m open to that possibility, but I’m also interested in other arrangements. For example, I’m curious about having separate partners, potentially exploring relationships with men and women individually, or even swinging while keeping our romantic relationship exclusive.
I hope that makes sense! I’m still learning the terminology and figuring out what appeals to me.
Here’s where things get complicated: I’m a pretty insecure person. I can pull away emotionally when I’m hurt or uncomfortable, and while I understand the logic behind polyamory, I know that understanding something intellectually and actually experiencing it are two completely different things.
I can genuinely see nonmonogamy working for me, and I’m interested in exploring it. At the same time, I’m worried about how I’ll handle jealousy, comparison, feeling left out, or watching my boyfriend develop a connection with someone else.
I also don’t want to enter this lifestyle without understanding my own boundaries, needs, and feelings first.
For those of you who started exploring polyamory while insecure, inexperienced, or unsure of your sexuality:
What helped you navigate jealousy and insecurity without shutting down or withdrawing from your partner?
How did you figure out which type of nonmonogamy actually suited you?
How do you handle situations where one partner is more enthusiastic about a particular arrangement than the other?
What conversations and agreements should couples have BEFORE opening their relationship?
If you’ve explored having a girlfriend together, what do you wish you’d known beforehand?
How do you distinguish between normal growing pains and realizing that a particular relationship structure isn’t right for you?
I’m not looking for people to tell me that polyamory is inherently good or bad. I’d really appreciate honest advice from people with actual experience, including things you wish someone had told you before you started.
Thank you! I appreciate any advice. ❤️

My husband (37M) and I (33F) have been ENM for the last 5 years. It has mostly just been me going out and finding other men for ongoing hook up type situations sometimes referred to as “hotwifing”. It was something he brought up as a desire early in our relationship and I became open to exploring.

After some experiences that really felt game changing for me, I became more open to the idea of him exploring as well. He’s been on the apps a bit the last few months and has finally met someone he’s having his very first first date with tomorrow and I am freaking out about it.

I do want him to be able explore his sexuality and reap the benefits I have the last few years but I’m having difficulty giving my full support when I never had a desire for a partner to play with others.
Any advice how I can be supportive but also stay true to some of my personal boundaries?

For background, this semester has been wild, to say the least. I'm in my second year of college, and while I didn't do shit last year, l've gotten pretty physical with a few different friends this semester and lost my virginity to one of them a few weeks ago

Anyways, I am gonna have a threesome this weekend and I have no fucking idea what I'm doing. It'll be with two other friends (who are dating but in an open relationship), and I'm totally comfortable with and trust both of them, so there's no issue there. It's more so the fact that this will be my second time having sex and the fact that I've never had a threesome. I'm excited, but also pretty damn nervous, but researching ahead of time is something I've found helps with my nerves for stuff in general

If it helps with giving advice, I’m ftm and these specific two friends are ftm and mtf

Literally any advice would be helpful. But as for a specific question… what should I have ready, since we’re doing it at my place? Water, towels, snacks, protection, lube… anything else?

They're already aware of several of my boundaries when it comes to intimacy (since I've made out with them before separately, and we talked about it afterward). We've been open about communication so far (and hell we established a safe word a while ago, because our making out does involve a fair amount of masochism-via-biting and we want to be safe with that). But again, I'd appreciate literally any advice

Thanks y'all

Title: First time trying poly after 8 years together. Struggling with mixed feelings.

My GF (29F) and I (30M) have been together for almost 8 years. We've always been monogamous and had a pretty healthy relationship, including our sex life. We're currently long-distance and probably won't be able to live together again until 2028.

In August, she brought up polyamory because she was developing feelings for a coworker. I agreed to try it because I love her and understand that long-distance can be difficult, especially when it comes to physical intimacy. Neither of us had tried non-monogamy before.

She's now been dating him for over two months, and things have moved pretty fast. She's already met his parents, and they spend a lot of time together. He's three years younger than her and apparently has his own insecurities about their relationship.

My GF has been transparent with me, including telling me when they spend the night together. She still makes time to call me and has promised to prioritize seeing me during Thanksgiving and Christmas.

But emotionally, it's been a roller coaster. At first, I even struggled to sleep. Sometimes knowing she's having sex with someone else makes me anxious, sad, or jealous. Other times, strangely enough, I feel turned on and curious about the details, even wanting to compare their experiences with ours. I'm still trying to understand why I feel both ways.

She tells me she loves me and feels more secure and comfortable with me, but also says her new BF brings a kind of passion that has faded in our relationship after so many years. I understand what she means, but it still hurts.

Our original plan is to live together again in 2028, but honestly, a lot could happen before then. She isn't even sure whether this new relationship is temporary or something more serious. I'm also a little concerned about the fact that he's her coworker, especially if things don't work out.

I genuinely love her, and I believe she loves me too. I don't want to lose what we've built over eight years, but sometimes I wonder if I'm accepting poly because I actually want it or because I'm afraid of losing her.

For those who've been through something similar, how did you handle the jealousy, curiosity, and uncertainty? How do you know whether poly is actually right for you?

I'd appreciate any advice, especially from people who transitioned from a long-term mono relationship to poly.

Hi everyone, and thank you for creating such a great space!

I've been in an open relationship before and have participated in threesomes, foursomes, group sex, etc., in my previous relationship.

I've now been in a new relationship for 1.5 years, and we're planning our first threesome. She has never done it before and feels most comfortable with an MFM threesome, so that's where we're planning to start.

Even though I have some experience and understand the importance of setting boundaries, having conversations beforehand, etc., some things are different now compared to back then.

The biggest thing: I'm sober. This is something I generally see as positive in all aspects of my life, including this one, but it also brings up some insecurities.

All my previous sexual encounters like this started with a cocktail, and afterwards, we'd usually continue partying, go out together, or do something else.

This time, it feels more like... "What do we do now?" I don't really want things to end in an awkward moment.

For me, being in a threesome with another man is something new. I've been in various group settings, including foursomes where the aftercare felt natural, close, and cozy. But in this situation, I'm not sure I'd feel entirely comfortable with the other man staying in bed and cuddling with us afterwards.

This might sound like a weird question, but I'd be happy to hear any advice or experiences you could share!

My (38M) partner (35F) have been open for a few years now and things were going quite well after a rough throuple at the start of the year. ​Had some successes together and separately and really felt like we were starting to truly understand how this works and how we work.

And then she slept with my (supposed) closest friend. Despite both of them knowing full and well this as a hard boundary for me. It's been a week now and we've argued and discussed and she is desperate to make it clear how sorry she is and how majorly she fucked up, but I don't know how to move on.

I could really use perspectives and advice on how to process this, and maybe some support because I'm so incredibly hurt. ​​​​

Okay so myself and my husband have been together for 14 years. 9 years ago he cheated with 4 different women.. he has expressed over the years how he’d like multiple sexual relationships and threesomes. I have always said no and can be a very jealous person. This year I had a mental breakdown and decided I didn’t want to be with my husband anymore, I was influenced by toxic friends and ended up sleeping with someone else. Whilst I didn’t sleep with this person whilst myself and my husband were together I was texting him whilst myself and my husband were together.

Fast forward a few months and I’m getting help for my mental health but my marriage is broken. My husband said he loves me and loves our family and is 50/50 if he wants us or he wants to go and sleep with different people. He recently went on holiday and slept with a lesbian who he has turned apparently and they’re texting. He is going out to meet her at the end of the month to see if there is a connection however when he was drunk he told me that it was just a shag he wanted when he went out there and was 90% sure he would come back to us.

NOW I know he wants to have his cake and eat it and I know I hurt him so I’ve proposed he can have his family and his wife and when he travels for work or whatever he is free to sleep with people. He said he doesn’t want me doing stuff like that though and to be honest I don’t either. I love my husband and am obsessed with just him.

I'm a late-20s male. I moved to Japan last year and reconnected with an old Japanese friend who runs a volleyball group. That's where I met Hinako (F, mid-20s) and Ken (M, mid-30s), who were engaged when we met. I was attracted to Hinako at first, but once I learned she was with Ken, I shut those feelings down. Over the next nine months we all became good friends, and I attended their wedding in August. I see them both about once a week at volleyball.

Over time, Hinako and I started spending more one-on-one time together. We talk about our pasts, we trust each other, and she's become a close friend. She studied abroad in Europe for a few years and is very open-minded and free-spirited. A few months ago I learned that she believes in open relationships and has been in them before, and that she and Ken have opened their marriage. Hinako is bi and was originally allowed to date women; Ken was allowed to date other women too. About a month ago, Ken said Hinako could also see men, though my understanding is he meant men outside his social circle, so he wouldn't have to know about it. Ken travels a lot for work and competitions, while Hinako works from home and has more free time so she wants someone she trusts to spend time with.

Hinako and I are very close. I do a lot of sweet things for her and sometimes act like her boyfriend, but I don't expect anything in return. I genuinely cherish her as a friend. It felt good to have a platonic female friend I don't have sexual relations with.

Hinako has now offered to open things up with me. I told Ken up front that I didn't want to cross any boundaries, and he said he "understood," but we didn't really talk beyond that. I honestly can't tell whether that means he's okay with it or just acknowledging what I said.

My concerns:

I've never been in an open relationship, and I have a very high sex drive. I worry I might get carried away and want this too much if I say yes.

It also felt good to have a platonic female friend. I've had a bad history with sex addiction, and it felt nice to have a relationship not revolve around sex—though at least I can say I tried.

The idea is appealing to me, and Hinako and I have talked about possibly exploring things with other women together.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? I'm not asking whether I should "pursue" her—I'm trying to decide whether to participate at all. My goal is to open up my perspective and try something new.

I haven't participate in a polygamous relationship before, so I'm a little hesitant.

I (19F) have a much higher sex drive than my boyfriend (22M). We’ve been dating since January, and living together since February. In the beginning, the sex was amazing. It was pretty much everyday, sometimes multiple times a day. It was fun, spicy, and exciting. But as time went on, it got much less frequent and now it’s usually a few times a month. There was a period of time where we hadn’t been intimate in 1-2 months. When we are intimate now, it’s boring and unenjoyable for me. It’s the same position, no speaking, lights off. He finishes and then I have to finish myself off. Usually he’ll face the wall or leave the room, but sometimes he makes comments when I ask him to help me finish that completely turns me off so I can go weeks without cumming. Masturbation doesn‘t help me, I desire the intimacy and the fun that comes from sex with my boyfriend.

Outside of sex, our relationship is good. We love each other, we want to get married and have kids one day. We spend a lot of time together, movies, gaming, date nights. I can’t see myself with anyone else despite our sexual incompatibility, I love him.

Our sex life just makes me miserable most days. Everytime I talk to him about my concerns regarding it, the conversation goes nowhere. He blows it off, or calls me a sex addict. I genuinely don’t think I am, at my age I assume it’s healthy to have a high libido. He talks to me about his previous sexual experiences before me and I’m honestly jealous. He doesn’t even know how many partners he’s had and he tells me about all the kinky sex he’s had with them. It’s just not fair that I didn’t get that side of him.

Last night, he was going on about old partners again. The conversation started because I invited him to a Halloween party that I was going to, and he told me no. He told me that if he was going to go to a party, it would be if he was single so he could get laid. He started telling me about how many Halloween parties he’d been to where he was offered threesomes. Then proceeded to tell me about threesomes he’d been apart of. I started telling him that I was jealous that he got to experience so much, while I chose to settle early instead of experimenting. I told him that while I didn’t regret our relationship, I wish I had experienced more before we’d gotten together.

He actually agreed with me. That’s when he finally proposed an open relationship. He told me that I could experiment with women (something I expressed interest in), we would just have to talk about it first. I told him that I needed to think about it, because this was something totally different from anything I’d experienced in a relationship.

Now, here are my problems with this proposal. I’m scared that an open relationship wont help anything, and will only make things worse. Opening our relationship will not fix our sex lives, and I don’t want him falling out of love with me. Not only that, but open relationships (from my knowledge) work both ways. If I get to be intimate with other people, he does too. Which I don’t want, my whole issue in the first place is that he isn’t having sex with me. So I would be incredibly hurt if he went and did stuff with someone else.

I think that’s all. I can answer any questions regarding the situation. I’m hoping to get some advice, and decide on if an open relationship is a good way to go from here. Thanks for reading. :)

Asking this for my wife behalf.

My wife and I are not so new to ENM, and we're still figuring out the hookup side of this.

My wife has been talking to this guy, but they haven't hooked up yet. Every now and then, he hits her up for a hookup, and she's pretty excited about the idea, so that's not an issue.

The thing is, he's bootycalled her twice now, and both times he's suggested splitting the costs of drinks, the hotel room, and whatever else. I don't know, but that just feels kinda low effort and cheap behave to me. I don't expect him to pay everything or anything for her but suggesting splitting the costs in advance is weird. If you're the one reaching out for a spontaneous hookup, would you ask for something like this, i mean isn't it an immature thing to ask? So i told my wife what i think and said i think you shouldn't hangout with him. She doesn't care about it too much since she's doing it casually just for fun. Do i think unreasonable here?

Edit: we both in our late 20s

(I think this is the right community for this, very sorry if I'm wrong)

I haven't been able to feel better by writing out my feelings in a journal, so I'm trying writing it out for people who might understand, I guess

I only recently (last ~3 years) discovered that polyamory was a word that applied to me. It's been difficult to figure out through all the internalized guilt of not being "normal," but I finally managed to push through those things and figure out what I wanted.

But knowing what I want and not being able to have it just feels horribly lonely. I now actually get to realize all these things that I want, and it feels so impossible to actually have any of it.

I don't know how to resolve wanting to have these close, intimate relationships with many people in my life, when I know none of them want the same.

I don't know how to have this strange, non conventional view of what love actually is without feeling inhuman. Hearing other people talk about how love is this thing they can only share with one person makes me feel like I'm an alien.

I don't know how to accept myself having these fantasies when I was raised to think sex was a sin. I haven't even been religious in years, but I can't stop feeling guilty about what I want to do.

I just can't help but feeling like learning that I'm some kind of poly is just making me even more lonely. Don't even get me started on where a potential "demisexual" label factors into all of this because I still can't even tell if that applies to me and I don't want to "steal" more labels.

***

Sorry for rambling. Therapist has encouraged me to reach out to like-minded people, and I finally got lonely enough to try.

I guess this post is a long way of asking if it ever gets better. Does non monogamy ever start feeling like a normal thing to want or do?

Thanks for listening. I really hope this is the right place for this and I'm not bothering anyone.

I (26F) have been with my partner (M29) for six years. We have a great connection, communicate well and love each other dearly.

I have recently learnt about NM and had always been intrigued by Poly etc.

I have been very open with my partner about how I develop "crushes" on people and want to build bonds and make-out with them etc.

He has always agreed that it is a completely normal behaviour and he doesn't care about it too much as long as nothing happens.

Appox. 4 months ago, I started researching NM and it feels like a puzzle piece that makes everything make sense.

I have not been able to stay loyal to any of my previous partners (teenage years) and released that I am always looking at other men/ women (I'm Bi) and I want to pursue them, flirt and makeout and go with the flow.

I brought this up to my partner and he did not handle it well... I believe that his insecurities spoke first (we have been working on his self confidence for 6 years) and he flat out denied my request and emotionally detached for a few days. I did do regular check in's and reassured him that I love him and he makes me very happy, I just want to explore other people, opportunities and vibes etc.

The last 4 months he has kinda swept it under the rug and if it does come up, seems annoyed and doesn't want to talk to anyone about it. He did say he might change his mind in the future but no for now (seems unlikely in general).

Whereas I have had this large amount of desire to go and have another partner and it is slowly consuming me.

I see a hot guy and I want to climb them like a tree lol!

I dont know where to go from here. Leaving my partner is painful to even think about but I don't want him to say yes because he wants me to be happy.

Has anyone here had a partner who said no at first and then yes later on?

How did you approach your partner and explain why you want this?

I was very clear and upfront about boundaries, he will always be my first choice and nesting partner and my secondary partner would be put a step back and only see them when my partner and I had nothing planned etc.

And I do not expect him to try dating other etc. he wants to be mono with me then that's fine and I won't push him, but some light encouragement to try to flirt either others if he wants / has the chance too.

So I (24M) and my SO (25F) have been together for almost 8 years now. We trust each other completely and talk about everything, including being very open about our sexuality and fetishes. One thing that has come up a lot is having a threesome. This is mostly bc my girlfriend is bi, and since I'm her first relationship and her first everything, she hasn't really been able to experience being with a woman. For me, I only considered it so my gf could explore that side of her sexuality without any guilt, and in a way that wouldn't make me uncomfortable. Because in reality I only care about my gf (I know it sounds cliche). Our sex life is amazing and I'm so in love with her.

Going back to the topic, when we talked more seriously about a threesome, a friend of hers came up in the conversation. She is someone who is very good friends with my gf and me. We talk a lot when we are together and feel very comfortable around her. Both of us came to the conclusion that if there were to be a possibility to have a threesome, it would be with her. Bc we both find her attractive.

Well, the thing is that my gf was at her house the other day and I went to pick her up. Later, my gf told me that with fer friend they were talking about sexuality and past partners. Her friend confessed that at the beginning of their friendship she really liked my gf (I can understand, she is literally a goddess) but felt guilty bc she was in a relationship with me and she really liked me also as a friend. So she felt terrible for liking her (she's an angel), and of course my gf told her to not worry, and confessed that when the idea of a threesome came up we thought about her. That's when her friend admitted she has been fantasizing about having a threesome with both of us. And my gf was a bit in shock, but they laughed and they talked about it being a possibility, and she was very much down to do it. But my gf also told her that it would depend on me bc I have a problem with my self-esteem.

And that's what this reddit post is about. I have been struggling with my self-esteem for many years, and I really stopped thinking about what people thought about me after some years into the relationship with my gf bc she is so loving that it made me sure that she liked me for who I am and how I looked. So after that, I only worried to look good for myself, like my outfits (I love to dress up). But I stopped thinking about what people thought of me sexually, or if others found me attractive, bc I only cared that my gf was attracted to me.

But now this could actually happen, where I'll do the most intimate thing possible with another person that's not my gf, and I'm terrified of what she will think of my body. I've never really found myself that attractive, I mean, I have good height and an average face I think? but that's about it. I'm really lucky bc my girlfriend is gorgeous, she's perfect and it really looks like I'm the luckiest guy (even if she tells me it's the other way around). But in general I really don't think I'm that great. I'm a bit on the chubby side? Like, chubby but with some muscle. I just don't think highly of myself in that way.

My gf tells me that if her friend has been fantasizing about us two, that's bc she finds us both attractive. But I can't help but think that fantasy only exists bc my girlfriend is there. And I can't really picture it bc I haven't fantasized about someone other than my gf to be sure that she could be attracted to me.

The thing is I would like to do it. Mainly I want my gf to experience this, and honestly, the hole thing sounds pretty fund. But I'm feeling anxious about it, and I'm scared my insecurities are going to ruin it o make thing awkward.

Am I just overthinking it? Or is it a genuine worry? For people who fantasize about couples or have been in a situation like this, do you actually feel attracted to the guy too?

Edit: Thanks everyone for the responses! Actually I didn't think I would get that many. But it has helped me a bit to see it in another light, I doesn't mean it's all like resolved. But I have been talking with my gf and showed her the post and understood better what I was feeling. So well be talking more about it and we decided that before talking it with her we should just hangout the 3 of us, like to go and get some coffee so we can start to know each other better (me and her friend). So thank u so much guys, I'll keep reading if there are new comment.