Couples who've "swapped" long-term

[MrsCristoforou]

Just musing on this really. I can't imagine it's very common but does anyone know of any couples who were friends and then e.g. one partner from each couple left their partners and got together, and then the other two got together as well?!

A guy I worked with was the child of a swapped couple. His half-siblings on both sides were 10+ years older and they all stayed remarkably amicable. Sadly his parents died before he was 25 and the other couple of the swap ended up acting as his "parents". I met them at his 30th party and thought they were actually his Mum and Dad until his best friend corrected me. Surprisingly well adjusted for the whole situation tbh.

I e had 2 friends where this happened with their parents. The first one - they were next door neighbours and my friend just used to live between the 2 homes. No idea if it lasted long term. The other - both couples were long term- at least 20 years

We’ve joked about it as we have good friends that are basically us the opposite way round. DH has tons in common with her and I’ve got tons in common with him. Thankfully nobody finds each other attractive, to my knowledge!

No, but when I was at school my friend’s aunt died and then her uncle started a relationship with her sister (so, her other aunty). I found that super weird.

I know two couples exactly like this! Second/ affair victims seem much more solid now, five years on.

I used to work with a couple of people where this happened. My (male) manager at the time and someone who worked in HR had been in a relationship together and then they broke up and both started a relationship with the opposite gender of another couple they’d been friends with.

All happened before I knew them and was all very amicable by the time I worked with them.

This happened to the parents of two of my school friends. They all met at church 😆 a scandal at the time (1980s) but both new marriages lasted.

A very elegantly written memoir on this very topic; sorry for endless link:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sisters-Antipodes-Jane-Alison-ebook/dp/B003LJRUBO?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=re7zv&content-id=amzn1.sym.f9a1288a-66fe-4587-95f9-1387021c317b&pf_rd_p=f9a1288a-66fe-4587-95f9-1387021c317b&pf_rd_r=525-8474833-4725106&pd_rd_wg=ziLMf&pd_rd_r=fcbd5c83-f77c-49ce-83da-4ef39408f39b

Yes in our little rural village in the 1980s, it was quite the scandal. They moved in with their new partners taking a kid from each family (my friend was one of them and she was glad to live with another girl instead of her annoying brother lol) and still had Christmas and even holidays all eight of them. Worked out perfectly and they’re still together and still all friends.

My neighbours did this. Had an affair, got found out, and left their respective partners to set up home. The jilted partners got together for a year or so but it didn't have legs. They all drink together at the club and go on outings etc, seems a step too far for me, but they all seem happy.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-13472527/tom-cruise-shania-twain-celebrities-dating-friends-spouse-swapping.html

Yes, this happened where I grew up, I was friends with the older DCs on each side. Caused quite the talking point in the village. No idea if the parent partner swappers are still together.

Happened with a guy at my work. He had an affair with one of our customers. His wife got in touch with her husband to share the news and they ended up getting together much to his disgust!!. Then he started another affair with a girl at work and they got together and had a child. His first affair partner ended up between homes at one point and ended up moving in with him and latest partner for a while.!!.

No, but I do know of a couple who got together after their partners had cheated with one another!

Yes I do. Seemed to work really well for several years until of the men committed suicide.

My sister. Married to an idiot of a guy who cheated on her with her friend. My sister told the friends husband and they got together about six months later. Her 2nd husband is lovely, and they have my adorable two nephews.

The ex and the friend? One cheated, I don’t know which, and they split

It can happen! My friend’s parents a step parents did exactly this!!!

Yep. My uncle.

He and his then wife exchanged partners with friends. i don’t know if there was any kind of affair before the swap, but there were kids, i.e. my two cousins. My uncle’s first wife took the kids, and my uncle had nothing more to do with them, but that’s the sort of person he is. He had three kids subsequently, and didn’t tell them about their half-brothers, but they found out at some point, probably because they all stayed in the same area, and it seems it was common knowledge around there.

Anyway, of the original four, only my uncle is still breathing, and we’re NC, so that's that.

Sort of. My biological father started an affair when I was around 3 years old (one of several). The affair was short-lived. My Mum, however, and the then husband of the affair partner initially found solace in one another’s company (genuinely so) after the affair came to light and went on to stay together for 44 years. The man who was technically my stepdad was the most extraordinarily loving, kind and generous father to me and grandfather to my children. More of a dad to me than my biological father ever could have been. He died just this week and my lovely Mum, my children and I are broken hearted.

I used to date a guy whose parents did that. It was apparently called the great wide swapping in their circles in Cornwall…
he’s pushing 60 so you can imagine it was quite a while ago and it was very scandalous

Yes I've known that twice
First was parents of kids i went to school with. This was 1980s. The scandal.
Looked them up on FB a couple of years ago. The kids are all friends so I guess it worked out.
Other was my mates parents.

I know of several couples this has happen to

It was a big scandal when it happened in our village in the 90s though! The couples had daughters who were best friends

Something that we discovered when doing DH's family tree - distant relatives of his were 2 sisters who married 2 brothers. They all lived together, running a farm. They then swapped and although the details are sketchy from then on, it looks like they continued living and working together!

DH asked his mum (gently) if she knew anything about them, and she said "Oh yes, the wife swappers!" Crikey.

My mum's friend did this. Two couples swapped. They ended up all taking the same surname and lived in the same house with all the kids.
It seemed to work for them!

I know it is fiction, but the interlude in Adrian Moles diaries where his parents do this with Pandora Braithwaite's parents is very entertaining.

(It doesn't end well for Ivan)