ABSTRACT
In families with parents who are consensually nonmonogamous, what little research exists supports my seventeen years of clinical experience with consensual nonmonogamy (CNM) that there may be differences in life experience, but that most problems are the same as any family might have, and that children are no more at risk in this family configuration. What children are told, when, and by whom, are fundamental issues of parenting in CNM. Cited “dangers” to children are examined: Children will be confused by inappropriate or immoral adult relationships; children will be exposed to inappropriate sexual activity; all children need one female mother and one male father; children will not be accepted by peers if their parents are “different.” Some stressors to children and teens that are unique to CNM are due to stigma, the possibility of having to be closeted about one’s family, and being powerless to change this. Within the studied families, children and teenagers show no risk any greater than those in currently accepted common family configurations, do show many advantages, and can thrive.
