Gemma Payne, 37

We met up 10 years back, but after 5 years chose we did not would you like to continue our very own romantic relationship. We still share a home, however, for financial explanations also because we planned to talk about all of our child (today six) with each other.

We now have outstanding friendship and eat, socialise and often go on vacation together. But we’ve different rooms and just have created as individuals.

Matchmaking other folks was difficult. Today we will not bring some body fresh to our home until it is a well established relationship. We have a joint Google calendar to organise as soon as we wish to continue a date.

All of our live arrangement might not be for good – we have an agreement whenever we satisfy some one brand new, certainly one of us might re-locate – but it’s just at the minute. It started for practical factors, but now we decide to stay this way.

Paddy Johnson, 41

I have found it difficult to spell it out just what Gemma should myself. I prefer the word “kind of ex-wife”, as legally she actually is still my partner and we also reside as a family, but “wife” means a relationship do not have.

In absence of any extensively recognized design, we experienced a procedure to sort out that which was suitable for us and the child. In the beginning we attempted becoming polyamorous, but that don’t work.

We have still got every usual tensions of living together and of co-parenting. I happened to be nervous about matchmaking, but Gemma’s excellent at assisting me using my profile.

It has forced me to realise that interactions modification. The thought of matrimony as unchangeable looks peculiar if you ask me now. In my opinion if there seemed to be an expression for what we’re carrying out, more and more people would ponder over it.