It is not a relationship—and that is open, it isn’t polygamy either.

These are relationships in which two people are in love and are largely inseparable—only they happen to be in bed with other people by now you’ve no doubt heard about the rise in open marriages in the U.S. Yes. (And yes, every person’s cool along with it.) However the marriage that is openn’t only kind of non-traditional, multi-partner coupling gaining steam today. There is a selection of polyamorous relationship kinds.

What is polyamory, you may well ask? Well, that’s a question that is excellent. Today, the expression happens to be twisted to act as a blanket description for almost any sexual or partnership that measures beyond your conventional bounds of monogamy—though that only starts to determine exactly exactly just what this means become undoubtedly “polyamorous.” So we’re right right here setting the record straight by proffering 11 truths about polyamorous relationships you likely did not understand.

1. It’s not theoretically an “open” relationship.

“Couples in available relationships are apt to have openness in intimate experience of outside lovers, nonetheless they do not want their partner dropping deeply in love with somebody else or having a split relationship,” claims Meredith Shirey, MS, LMFT, the training manager of the latest York–based Manhattan Relationship Counseling and Psychotherapy.