Is it ever okay to have an affair?

[iserta]

Is there any circumstances, or reasons, that you'd deem it acceptable for someone to have an affair?

This was a talk amongst colleagues today and I'm interested to hear others opinions!

No. Never.

No.

No.

Have some damn decency and just leave if you want your jollies elsewhere.

No.
The second you want to get intimate with another person then your relationship is over.

MN has a strange view sometimes and i have seen threads where affairs were deemed ok. However for me its a no.

I was sure when I first read the OP that there would be one.

So I've been typing various outlandish suggestions... then deleting them, because none of them are an acceptable reason to have an affair.

There are acceptable reasons to sleep with someone else with your partner's knowledge, but no justification at all to have a secret affair.

Sometimes I can see why someone has done it but it doesn't mean it's ok..

Not on mums net

No.

To me it's what cowards do. If you are not in a happy relationship then either a) try and work out the issues or b) get some balls and leave before you start seeing other people.

No

No.

I would have a lot of sympathy for someone married to someone with severe dementia who started another relationship. Not in every case maybe but yes in some. I don't think I'd mind if I had severe dementia and if DH found some support elsewhere. In any other case, I'd kill him.

No way.

No

No. I think there are circumstances where I can see why it happened but that doesn't mean it was okay.

No one I've ever known whose had an affair has ever come up with a valid acceptable reason.

No.