Infidelity has a way of either making things very messy or painfully clear. For some people, finding out that a partner cheated calls for an immediate break-up, no matter the situation — what we call a dealbreaker. But if both partners try to work things out, even for a short amount of time, the back-and-forth arguments, confusion, and feelings of betrayal and jealousy can cloud the relationship and make it hard to end it or move forward. For those who to choose to stay, well, it often takes a lot of work to re-establish that trust and build that bond up again, and even then, the relationship will never be exactly the same. That’s especially true when the affair results in a baby.

“Messy” doesn’t even begin to cut it for that situation, which is what one woman on Reddit is finding out right now. She agreed to stay with her husband after an affair and an affair baby came to light — but now, somehow, it’s all getting even more complicated. With her husband asking that they take in the affair child (now older), the woman (aka our OP, or the author of the post) responded in a way that has Reddit’s Am I the Asshole? forum divided. Read the full story, Reddit’s response, and our ultimate takeaways ahead.

Open relationships really can and do work — we’ve talked to women who’ve been in them and loved it! — but you wouldn’t know it from the amount of stories on the Internet (and especially Reddit) where opening a relationship or a marriage leads to the end of a couple. We hesitate to blame that all on the polyamorous aspect of it; some of these relationships maybe just aren’t built to last, and seeing other people helped them realize it. Other times, the partner(s) were opening up their relationship for the wrong reasons or using it as an avoidance technique instead of addressing their deeper issues.

Whatever the reason for open relationships failing, again, we promise they really do work and can be a beautiful, horizon-broadening experience for all involved … That said, the latest partner to share their open relationship experience on Reddit looks like he’s falling into the camp of the relationship not working out. And while the husband, our OP (aka original poster, or the author of the post) seems, honestly, more or less fine with getting a divorce, he’s concerned enough about his wife’s upset reaction to share their story on Reddit’s Am I the Asshole? forum. OP’s wondering if he’s made a mistake, and Reddit was all too happy to weigh in. Keep reading for the full story.

General rule of thumb: if you think opening up your marriage or relationship will save your marriage or relationship, it’s probably not going to work. Don’t just take our word for it: experts and women who’ve tried open relationships (including one mom who wrote a bestselling memoir about the experience) have told SheKnows that open relationships are best started from a place of complete trust and commitment. If you’re dealing with deep marital issues, introducing other partners into the mix will probably not solve the issue.

We can understand the temptation, though. Let’s say, for example, your marriage is pretty much fine. You get along well, you’re good co-parents, you’ve invested a lot of time and effort into this partnership… but you’re just not sexually compatible anymore. At least one of you isn’t feeling fulfilled, for whatever reason. Why blow up the whole marriage when you could just open up your relationship and have your sexual needs met elsewhere?

That’s essentially the case for one woman on Reddit, who shared her story on the site’s Am I the Asshole? forum recently. Our OP (aka original poster, or the author of the post) is dealing with a classic dead bedroom issue with her husband and is at her wit’s end. She’s suggested an open marriage to avoid divorce, but after her husband’s response, now she’s wondering if she was an asshole for even bringing it up. Keep reading for the full story and Reddit’s response.

Planning a wedding means a lot of stress, from beginning to end. That includes the big decisions like choosing your location, date, and dress, right down to the smallest details, like the frosting on your cake and the calligraphy on your place cards. Not to mention you’re balancing a lot of different opinions that don’t always align — including yours and your partner’s. Just because you’re in love with someone, doesn’t mean you’re always in agreement (as many, many couples can attest). But what happens when the disagreement is about one of the most important parts of your wedding?

We’re talking about picking your wedding party. This is one of the bigger decisions in the wedding-planning process, because these are the people you’ll see the most often throughout this process — you want them to be your favorites! We’ve all heard of (or experienced) wedding party drama, whether it’s one so-called BFF being left out or a bridesmaid having a little too much fun at the reception. But in the case of one Reddit couple, the wedding party issues are getting particularly personal.

In this situation, the bride-to-be (aka our OP, or the author of the post) is facing a “dealbreaker” situation as her fiancé insists on including his ex-girlfriend (!) in his wedding party. Yep, it’s as bad as it seems, and OP is coming to Reddit’s Am I the Asshole? forum for some second opinions, which Reddit was only too happy to provide. Keep reading for the full story.

When you hear the word prenup, you might automatically think of celebrities or wealthy couples. And it’s true that those are the people who usually make the news for their prenuptial agreements — like the “airtight” prenup Britney Spears and Sam Asghari signed before their 2022 wedding, or Kelly Clarkson’s prenup-related legal mess after her divorce from Brandon Blackstock. If you ask Khloé Kardashian, everyone should have a prenup, “You have to protect yourself. It doesn’t mean you don’t love them,” she told E! News back in 2011 … before her divorce from Lamar Odom.

Not everyone is taking Kardashian’s advice, though. According to a 2023 survey by Axios, only 1 in 5 married couples in the US have a prenup, although 50 percent of the adults they surveyed said they at least somewhat supported them. And while, technically, you can ask for just about anything in a prenup (Kardashian’s prenup reportedly entitled her to a new car whenever her lease was up and courtside Lakers tickets for her whole family), your partner doesn’t necessarily have to agree to your suggestions, especially if they’re… unhinged. That’s where one couple on Reddit is running into some trouble, and trust us, “unhinged” is putting it lightly in this case.

The partner who’s writing the post (aka our OP, or original poster) is taking major issue with one clause their boyfriend wants to put in their prenup, and Reddit is up in arms over it too. Keep reading for the full story and Reddit’s furious response.

Here’s the thing about open relationships: when they have rules, have them for a reason. Open relationships can be challenging, especially for those of us who grew up in monogamous households. Of course, they can also be rewarding, fulfilling, exhilarating, and just plain fun, making them worth the risks (of jealousy, insecurities, and rejection) for some people. But back to those rules. While open relationships can be all of those positive things (and more), if you and your partner(s) decide to open your relationship with some specific rules and boundaries in place, it’s a good idea to adhere to them. It’s when some partners don’t that things always seem to get a little more complicated.

Take one couple on Reddit, who are dealing with some massive fallout from the choices one partner made in their newly-open relationship. The husband — aka our OP, which stands for original poster (the author of the post) — is asking for advice after his wife took advantage of their open relationship to hook up with a friend, one that OP has had some suspicions about for a while. In the process, she broke multiple rules they’d established for their open relationship and threw their lives into turmoil.

Keep reading to see how it all went down and what readers in Reddit’s Am I the Asshole (AITA) forum had to say.

One assumption about being in a couple is that you and your partner sleep together. As in, literally sleep together — having your own side of the bed, drifting off together, waking up with them by your side. It all sounds very cozy and romantic, but sleeping next to someone every night also has its downsides. Snoring is a big one; so are preferences in temperature, cuddling, bed firmness, bedtimes, wake-up times, alarm habits… we could go on.

Sometimes it’s just more convenient to sleep in separate rooms, and more and more couples have been opting for this solution. According to research from the Better Sleep Council, more than 25 percent of couples have different sleep spaces, and a New York Times survey found that two-thirds of the couples that sleep separately do so every night. But even as it becomes more common and less stigmatized (notice how we’re not calling it sleep divorce, with all the negative connotation that comes with that term), this arrangement can still be a confusing one at first and even cause tension in couples as they figure out how to make it work. That’s the case with one couple on Reddit, who are running into issues over a key rule they set when they decided to try sleeping separately.

The husband (aka our OP, which is Reddit-speak for the author of the post) came to Reddit’s AITA forum for some impartial judgment on the matter, and Reddit didn’t disappoint. Keep reading for the full story.

It’s no secret that the decision to have kids or not is a major one in romantic relationships. So major, in fact, that your preference on children is a profile option on many dating apps, so you can filter out people who aren’t compatible with your needs.

Of course, it’s possible to change your mind about this important topic, too. You might be sure you don’t want kids at age 29, but by 35, you’re starting to see the other side of things — or vice versa. When that happens, communication is obviously essential, as well as hearing your partner out and understanding any other factors that might be at play, like health or fertility. And that’s where one couple on Reddit’s Am I the Asshole forum is running into some issues.

While the couple originally agreed they wanted to get married and have kids soon after they started dating, the boyfriend changed his tune a few years ago. Now the two have been together for six years, and his girlfriend — aka our OP, which is Reddit-speak for original poster, or the person who wrote the post — may need a hysterectomy due to health issues. And her boyfriend isn’t so sure he wants to stick around if that happens.

Yeah, we’re cringing just thinking about it too. Keep reading for the full story and to find out what Reddit had to say.

Setting clear boundaries and expectations is essential in any relationship, whether they’re about who cooks dinner during the week or what counts as cheating. When it comes to open relationships, the rules you and your partner(s) set in place might be even more important. In open relationships, both partners have agreed that they can have sex with other people, but how you define sex and all the rules around it are totally up to you and your partner. Can you hook up with a mutual friend? Is it OK to have an emotional connection with someone you’re seeing outside your partner? Are there any sex acts you’re not OK with your partner doing with someone else?

Defining those boundaries and sticking to them is what helps make an open relationship successful — you have to know you can trust your partner to adhere to your boundaries, and them to yours. But what about when that doesn’t happen? One couple on Reddit is finding out.

In the post, the OP (aka the person who wrote the post) is the husband in the relationship, and he explains up front that his wife “has a way higher libido than I do.” They agreed to have an open marriage with a few specific rules attached. OP says he’s been fine with the arrangement, but his wife recently broke a major rule, and it’s led to some serious friction. He took to Reddit’s Am I the Asshole forum for advice, and Reddit was more than happy to provide. Keep reading for the full story.

Gift-giving is a classic holiday stressor that never goes away. Trying to find personal gifts for everyone on your list — gifts that say you care about them, gifts that harken back to a memorable time you have together, gifts they’ll use, at the very least — is no easy feat. However, there are a few rules of thumb that typically won’t lead you astray, like: Experiential gifts are always a good call. If all else fails, write out a heartfelt card. And, the cardinal rule: get a gift that makes the receiver, at least in some small way, feel special and loved.

That’s the rule a husband broke this year, according to a post from his partner on Reddit. The partner, or OP (Reddit-speak for original poster), took to the site’s Am I the Asshole forum for a second opinion after realizing that their gifts this Christmas were underwhelming, to say the least. At best, you could call them “household items,” at worst, tools for chores. Pro tip: gifting your partner a vacuum cleaner they didn’t ask for is a surefire way to show that you see them as a servant and not much else!

So what exactly were the gifts, and how did OP react when they found out about them? And of course, what did Reddit have to say about it all? (Spoiler: they don’t think OP’s the asshole.) Read on for the full story.

At the risk of stating the obvious, childbirth is one of the most painful experiences humans go through. Sure, everyone has differing pain levels and tolerances, and modern medicine can do a lot to ease or numb the pain if you have access to those resources, but it’s still fair to say that it’s not typically a pleasant process. So it follows that most of us going through labor will probably not be at our most pleasant when it happens, or at the very least, not overly focused on the other people in the room. One husband and new father on Reddit didn’t seem to grasp that fact while his wife was giving birth, and is now contemplating taking (rather drastic) action because of it.

The husband (aka OP, or original poster, in Reddit-speak) explains in the post that he and his wife (ages 32 and 34, respectively) just had their first baby today — as in, the day of the post. As in, he snuck away from his newborn child and recovering wife to post on the Reddit AITA (aka Am I the Asshole?) forum, of all things, in the hours after the birth. (No, we don’t have proof that he snuck, but we can imagine.)

What could be so important that he would use this precious time to post about it online? Please join us on this ride with us and find out.

Many people go through dry spells in their relationships, where sex and physical intimacy are happening less frequently. It’s normal, and it happens for a number of reasons — maybe you’re both busy, or stressed, or dealing with health issues that impact your libido. But when a dry spell doesn’t seem to end, and it’s impacting you and your partner’s relationship and mental health, it can feel impossible to solve — as is the case for one woman on Reddit, who is contemplating resorting to drastic measures.

The woman (aka OP, or original poster in Reddit slang) and her husband are both in their late 30s with a young daughter. Early in their relationship, OP writes, “sex was frequent and adventurous.” She wasn’t sexually experienced prior to their relationship, so it “pretty much defined” who she is today, sexually. “I always loved exploring my sexuality with him,” she says.

Sounds fun, sounds good, but recently, their sex life has taken a turn. OP no longer feels like her physical needs are being met, and she’s wondering if it’s OK to explore options outside of their marriage… without telling her husband. AKA cheating. She took to Reddit’s Am I the Asshole? (AITA) forum to solicit opinions and advice, and boy, did Reddit have some. Read the full story ahead, complete with Reddit’s harsh-but-fair verdict.

Open relationships are becoming more and more common, and honestly, we’re all for it. Everyone should be able to pursue the kind of relationship that works for them, whether that’s monogamous, non-monogamous, or somewhere in between. Before you jump into ethical non-monogamy, though, it’s crucial to really solidify your communication and make sure there’s equal buy-in from all sides of the relationship. And that’s where things can get tricky, especially when – as a new Reddit AITA addresses — the reasoning behind opening the relationship is a little suspect.

Case in point: a woman on Reddit is questioning the rationale behind her husband’s new desire to open up their marriage, especially because it’s following his (relatively recent) career success. She was the breadwinner and supported him for years while he got his business off the ground, and now that it’s taking off, he’s acting differently around her and suddenly considering other options. (Yep, we’re cringing already.)

The OP (aka original poster, in Reddit-speak) doesn’t want to open up their relationship and joined the “Am I the A—hole (AITA)?” subreddit to source outside opinions. As you’d expect, Reddit commenters delivered, and they are not mincing words on this one.