An agreement between two people which allows for sexual exploration for both parties, yet maintaining the mutual love commitment to each other. This is one alternative to a divorce when two people become sexually incompatable, or social restrictions dictate splitting up is out of the question. This also may keep a love relationship healthy as neither person will become saturated with the essence of the other and mutual appreciation can continue in harmony.

The only drawbacks to an open relationship are the possibilities of jealousy, STDs, and other people finding it quite odd (They are jealous and cant comprehend the possibility)

An open relationship is a subset of polygamy, a system in which romantic partnerships are not exclusive - i.e. in any one relationship either partner might have other partners of either sex, and their status in their lives will be equal all round. Most people in polygamous relationships retain what is called a "primary partner", usually someone to whom one is legally married.

Not living in small, tight-knit communities makes polygamy in its primal state pretty much impossible because of various legal issues and problems with the upbringing of children.

I believe in polygamy, I think it's a system in which many of the problems people have in their monogamous relationships - jealousy, possessiveness, boredom - are eliminated. Unfortunately we are brought up from infancy to view things very differently, and the paradigm shift a polygamous relationship requires is too much for most of us to make. I know people who are in different kinds of poly relationships, and only the most careful, mature ones succeed. If you treat it as an excuse to sleep around, it's doomed.

My boyfriend and I have an open relationship. We decided to have one because he is not interested in sex, and I am (very much so, in fact). I love him dearly, as he loves me, but I have so much left to explore about sex and I can't do it with him due to his lack of sex drive. So, I end up having lots of sex with different people, exploring new techniques, and since I've been doing this, I've gotten my boyfriend a lot more interested in sex in general.

In my experience, open relationships can be a test of your morality (in the humanist, not Christian, sense)... one that you might not pass, especially if you are living in a very conservative area. I didn't. I fell in love with a staunchly monoandrous woman, and wasn't able to communicate in time and openly enough about my other relationships. I was dishonest. (Eventually, things also became extremely aggravated by my computer game addiction, and I often think this was more important than my dishonesty in discussing other relationships.)

Eventually, the woman in question left me, and to get her back, I had to promise monogamy. I couldn't imagine life without her, and my computer game addiction had at that time axed the remaining relationships, so I decided that monogamy was a lesser evil than losing her. Or rather: less painful.

We're married now, I'm freshly a father, and I try not to think about the matter too much, but I still wonder what would have happened if I had shown more moral strength.

In short: open relationships are not for the faint at heart!