Successful Relationship with a married woman or man

Is it possible to have a successful relationship with someone who is married?
Statistics reveal that extra marital relationships, married dating and infidelity are incredibly commonplace. This might not surprise some of you but it is actually a trend that has been steadily increasing over the last few decades. The reasons behind it appear many and varied – from changes in societal structure to changes in the ways we treat relationships. With these things in mind we decided to take a look at the issues around dating, or having a more extensive relationship, with someone who is already married.
The key word in our title is “successful” and when it comes to married dating this really forms the crux of the issue. Having a relationship with someone who is married may entail a number of scenarios each of which will have a different impact on the success of the relationship. The married person may be in a loveless marriage, they may be tied to their partner on the basis of family and children but nothing else, they may still be in love with their spouse but be looking for something new and more exciting, their partner may be sexual inactive or unable to enjoy sex for medical or psychological reason or they may have an open relationship. These and other reasons have a great impact on the potential success of a relationship with someone who is married as they can determine the possible future of the relationship and the expectations the married person will have.
In order to judge the potential successes you then need to ask yourself what you personally are looking for from the relationship. If you are looking for a casual fling then you might be better off finding a non-married partner as you may have unforeseen impacts on a marriage. If you are looking for a more long term commitment then you need to ask yourself why this person is still with their spouse and whether they are likely, willing or able to leave their partner for you. If you are the married person in the relationship then you need to ask yourself whether you are in a position where you can discuss your desires and needs with your spouse and see if something can be worked out. If you find yourself in a position where you are likely to cause extensive harm to an existing relationship then you are likely to not have a successful relationship yourself. So make sure you understand what you want from the relationship and what your partner wants from it.
With these judgements made you also need to examine the potential successes of the relationship from a more practical standpoint. The practicalities of conducting an affair, or simply open married dating, means that you are likely to be in a relationship where you aren’t the sole object of your partner’s affections or they have to balance their time between you and their other partner. This can put a lot of strain on a relationship and can lead to jealousy and intimacy problems.
Dating someone who is married can be acceptable and it can be unacceptable. As always circumstances dictate what the best course of action is and you should make yourself sure of everything before you commence a relationship.