I don’t know what to call her the mother of my son’s three children. Nothing sounds right; all the words too awkward.  Not a wife.  Not a lover. Significant other, too cumbersome Partner... unfitting for their union. Para-wife, I reply. What’s that? Para means almost.  Almost wife. Just as good as. Might as well be, Pete says, and the conversation goes on as that teaching moment comes and leaves us, him...

WHO IS THIS WEB SITE FOR? Men and women who are in serious, committed relationships with a domestic partner, spousal equivalent, significant other, or same-sex union, where the "traditional marriage" between the couple is not their option.  These loving relationships may or may not include children from a previous union. To be called one's "Para-wife" or "Para-hubby" is a loving alternative to the more traditional designations of the...