When Warren Baird and his partner, Blue, found out they were expecting a baby 17 years ago, they decided on an unconventional arrangement: they invited Blue’s other partner, Jbash, to live with them and raise the child together. Their version of polyamory came with some unexpected benefits: they pooled their incomes to buy a bigger house in a nicer Montreal neighbourhood, and there was never any shortage of childcare.
Baird and his partners are among many Canadians redefining love, sex and marriage through polyamory; according to the Vanier Institute of the Family, one in five people in the U.S. and Canada say they’ve practised non-monogamy. Canadian law is starting to catch up: court cases in Newfoundland and Labrador and B.C. have recognized all parents in polyamorous families. “Society is continuously changing and family structures are changing along with it. This must be recognized as a reality and not as a detriment to the best interests of the child,” wrote Justice Robert Fowler of the Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court.
In the September issue of Maclean’s, Rosemary Counter interviewed several polyamorous Canadians about their lives and relationships: couples who’ve opened up their marriages, harmonious co-parents, and one woman who lives with several of her partners and their kids. The details they share are intimate, frank and fascinating. “It’s all fluid, negotiable and open to redefinition,” Counter writes. “And it can get complicated.”
—Emily Landau, executive editor
