Wife opens up after inviting another woman into marriage

A woman has opened up about how she revealed to her husband she is bisexual before inviting another woman into their marriage.

High school sweethearts, Cierra Applegate and David fell in love in 2012. They got married in 2016 and spent the next few years in wedded bliss. However, in 2019, Cierra came out as bisexual to David and they both agreed to expand their relationship to include another woman.

“He was the first and only man I've ever been interested in, let alone in love with. We got married at the age of twenty-one,” Cierra said.

“When I was twenty-three, I came out to him and some other people close to us and we decided to change our lifestyle.

“After realising my bisexuality and sitting down with my husband and talking about our relationship, we decided we felt comfortable with opening up our relationship to other women.”

In May 2019, they both searched for the right girl on dating app Tinder and after exploring the dating scene with various women, they met their match in Mariah Henderson.

“In May 2019, I met our lovely girlfriend Mariah on a dating app and was upfront about our situation and she was interested and so we set up the first date and now it's been almost a year of bliss with my two favourite people,” Cierra, 24, said.

“David and I are husband and wife. We are both dating Mariah and there is both a physical and emotional relationship between all parties.”

Cierra admits the addition of Mariah in their relationship has strengthened her marriage and communication with David.

“Including Mariah in our lives has brought new perspectives, new hobbies and life experiences that would’ve been unexplored had another personality not been present and the tearing down walls of jealousy and distrust in your partner,” she said.

“We’ve learnt to love ourselves and one another differently and with a new appreciation. We’ve also learnt better ways to communicate with one another after learning how another person operates and how they feel most loved rather than the person we’ve always been with and known.

“To us, it means that we can share our love with not only one another, but another person. We feel like our marriage is so full of love and feeling free to express ourselves, that this isn’t something that negates from our relationship, but rather builds it and creates new forms of trust and respect.”

Whilst they couldn’t be happier in their polyamorous relationship, after a few months of dating as a threesome, they began to encounter jealousy between Cierra and Mariah, 21, which caused them to split up mid-September 2019 for over two months before they reconciled again at the beginning of December 2019 and have been smitten ever since.

“It isn’t easy, and it’s definitely not for everyone, but for us, this lifestyle and way of expressing ourselves and our relationship makes sense,” Cierra explained.

“It has definitely been a learning experience and unfortunately there aren’t a lot of resources for throuples as there are for other ways of living or relationship struggles.

“But we worked through the negative feelings I was having and the toxic jealousy and focussed instead on how happy I am to see two people I care immensely about having a wonderful time with one another and being there for me.”

Cierra’s family haven’t fully accepted their relationship and she says they compare it to something they would see on US talk show Jerry Springer, but she is determined to prove how strong their relationship is.

“I've been told that they consider this ‘a phase’. Other family members have been supportive on social media,” she said.

“David’s family is accepting and curiously loving, but still doubt the quality of our marriage. Mariah’s family was very loving about her coming out and that they are happy she felt she could tell them. But neither of her parents are accepting of their relationship.

“I get two people that console me after a bad day; I get to look forward to two texts every morning. I get to cry on two shoulders.

“If people can look past the stereotypes and see how happy we make one another, it shouldn’t matter how many people are in our relationship.”

Cierra says the entire journey has improved her marriage, given her self-appreciation, more life, more love, and pride for being able to build her life how she wants.

“At the end of the day, we know that not everyone will accept us, but life is too short to not live it to the fullest,” she said.

“When any tinge of jealousy arises, we communicate to one another immediately. We try to check in with one another once a week to make sure no one feels left out or suffocated.

“We also understand that because Mariah is not living with us and that we are married, there is an understanding that when she feels lonely or jealous, she can always reach out, video chat or even stop by.

“We are working very hard on being individuals first so that way what we bring to the table is the best version of who we are and that we can bring all our different perspectives and experiences together for one amazing relationship.”

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