


The more the merrier.
Two married couples divorced each other to form a polyamorous foursome after falling in love with one another.
“None of us were looking for life partners, but that’s what we had found,” Rachel Wright told NeedToKnow. “After we all fell in love, the label of ‘polyamorous’ stuck.”
Wright, 34, thought something was “wong” with her for desiring non-monogamy, recalling how difficult dating was while growing up.
When the New Yorker met Kyle while working at the same restaurant, she suppressed her doubts.
Three years after tying the knot in 2016, they decided to open up their marriage and eventually met Yair Lenchner and Ashley Giddens, both 36.
“We all fit together as though we had been friends for decades,” said Wright, who works as a licensed marriage therapist. “We couldn’t stop talking, texting and spending time together.”
“It was a really unique experience that laid a foundation for what we have now,” she added.
Both couples got a divorce to form a foursome, “merging lives and families” — something Wright had “no intention of” prior to meeting Lenchner and Giddens.
“We all leaned into it,” Wright admitted.
“For me, non-monogamy isn’t an attitude, but an orientation,” she added. “Some people experience non-monogamy as a choice and others, as the latter.”
Wright first learned about polyamory in college, initially thinking that the lifestyle “resonated” with her.
When she and Kyle began investigating it for themselves as a married couple, they began reading books and listening to podcasts about the topic, eventually turning to the app Feeld.
“We communicated so much and I cannot begin to express the amount of additional communication and self-reflection, as well as awareness, that’s required for this to work in a healthy way,” she said.
Lenchner and Giddens, who had always maintained an open relationship, began to spend time with the couple, and eventually the foursome moved in together in 2021.
But perhaps more isn’t merrier — this year, Kyle left the relationship, which was “incredibly hard” for Wright, who still loves him.
“He is a very special person and I will always love him – we were best friends and partners,” she said.
“Our families have been incredibly supportive around our relationship and breakup, even with things they didn’t fully understand.”
Now, the remaining three have formed a throuple, hoping to move to a city where they can be legally recognized as a domestic partnership and eventually have children.
“If we can, Ashley and I both want to carry one baby, with Yair biologically fathering the kids,” she said.
While their families have adjusted to their nontraditional lifestyle, strangers often jeer at the threesome online.
“Random strangers do comment on stuff, but people often hate things they don’t want to understand or that scares them,” she said.
“It’s sometimes hard to read, but I’ve grown a thicker skin – I know who I am and how special my relationship is, so I don’t need to hear other people’s opinions.”
Despite the backlash she faces towards her romantic lifestyle, she still encourages others to educate themselves about polyamory, saying it’s “a very valid relationship design.”
“Monogamy isn’t the only option for true love,” she said.