Three parents who have made Canadian history by winning a court’s recognition as a legal family are still adjusting to their status as pioneers for polyamorous rights.



"I'm absolutely stoked about it," said a woman known to the courts as C.C., who with her partners — two men named J.M. and J.E. — won the right to be listed as parents on their daughter's birth certificate.

"I think the world is going in the right direction, and I'm so happy, proud, baffled that we made a difference in this."

In April, a judge in the Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court's family division issued a decision that made them the first polyamorous family in Canada to have more than two people legally recognized as a child's parents.

"[That] was a big elephant in the room. It was a big weight on our shoulders," said J.E. "And the fact that it's a first is cool. That's great — I love it."

A young girl known as Little A is the subject of a precedent-setting court case that played out in St. John's. (Paul Daly) Post image on Pinterest: A young girl known as Little A is the subject of a precedent-setting court case that played out in St. John's. (Paul Daly)

A young girl known as Little A is the subject of a precedent-setting court case that played out in St. John's. (Paul Daly)

Polyamory is the practice of people engaging in intimate, romantic relationships with more than one individual at a time, but with the consent of all those involved.

While bigamy and polygamy, in which people are part of multiple marriages, are illegal in Canada, polyamory is not.



The number of polyamorous families in Canada is unknown. Statistics Canada does not gather data on either polyamorous individuals or relationships, and support groups are relatively new in Canadian cities like St. John's.

However, a 2016 survey by the Ottawa-based Vanier Institute of the Family suggested that polyamorous relationships may be more common than many Canadians think. In just three weeks, it collected 547 self-reported responses to a survey on polyamory. Of those, 23 per cent said they lived in a house with at least one child under 19.

Polyamorous relationships can take many forms. In their particular case, J.M. and J.E. are each involved in separate, committed relationships with C.C., the child’s mother, but not with one another.

Meanwhile, all three live together — each adult has their own bedroom — and share parenting responsibilities of their daughter, whom they call Little A.