“We’ll just keep figuring it out as we go,” says mom-fluencer Linda Fruits, who lives with her lover Maddy, her ex-husband Chris, as well as a burgeoning group of children.
A mom-fluencer had it all, including a wonderful spouse, two young sons, and a home in a Florida suburb. Her current situation is much better: she lives happily with her fiancée, their newborn child, and her ex-boyfriend, who also serves as their sperm donor.
Blogger Linda Fruits and her partner Maddy welcomed their son Arlo on Tuesday.
“At 3 a.m., Maddy woke me up and said she believed her water had broken. Arlo, who weighed 6.8 pounds and was 19 inches long, was born at 6:03 p.m. after we had hurriedly showered and left for the hospital, according to Linda, speaking exclusively to PEOPLE. I was really relieved that he was here and that Maddy was OK.
It was “absolutely Incredible” to watch Maddy give birth while positioned on the other side of the bed, she continues. “Love, excitement, and sighs of relief filled my eyes. I have never been more in love with her than I am right now. The entire birthing process has the power to either deepen or shatter a bond.
Regarding the rest of their family, Linda claims that her ex-husband “is delighted” to have “another boy” in the home and that their boys Elliot and Owen “are so excited to meet him.”
Linda, 33, claims that while she was married, she “had everything I wanted on paper,” but something didn’t feel right.
She says, “I was still missing something.” I simply wasn’t fully cognizant of what it was at the time.
She and her spouse, Chris Haerting, 37, had been dating for years prior to being married in 2016. They became fast friends after meeting at the pub where Linda worked, were married, and had two children who are now three and five. But, at least from Linda’s perspective, a bodily connection eluded them. Relationships “felt like an obligation or something,” she says. She even questioned whether an open marriage was necessary to her best buddy. I can’t sleep with him, so I can’t.
The young mother had time to breathe and “sit in her skin,” as she puts it, when their children started daycare. When she eventually came across “lesbian TikTok,” she was shocked to discover that she was attracted to some of the sapphic content producers there.
After giving it some thought, Linda made the decision to tell her husband that she was gay. No one should be able to go for this long without needing to be held, kissed, or touched, claims Linda. And I wanted him to receive his just compensation.
Still, it was challenging to speak the words.
She reveals why she ended up “sobbing uncontrollably” while breaking the news to Chris as he was getting out of the shower: “I loved our family and I didn’t want anything to change,” she says. Fortunately, he received Linda’s information politely.
I was exposed to homosexual and lesbian folks growing up. Many of the friends of my parents had come out in their later years, recalls Chris. “Everything made sense,”
They made the decision to remain in their home after divorcing in August 2021 because they valued their strong relationship and liked co-parenting together. Chris, who runs two enterprises, thinks that “day-to-day, we function well.” We enjoy taking care of our children together in the morning after waking up with them.
They shifted to other parts of the home and started dating other individuals. Chris began dating right away, whilst Linda took her time. She wasn’t seeking love when she downloaded the lesbian dating app HER. She simply wanted to discover this new aspect of herself: “I was by no means looking to meet someone and fall head over heels in love with them.”
Surprisingly yet, she did fall in love. She scheduled a meeting with Maddy, a 36-year-old E.R. physician’s assistant, after her initial date with one woman didn’t go well due to a lack of chemistry. “There wasn’t a lot of pre-communication,” Linda claims. “Like, Hey, let’s get together. OK, excellent. I’ll see you there.
“I honestly thought I was going to get catfished just because of how beautiful she was,” recounts Maddy. Linda started to consider asking Chris if he might be willing to donate his sperm to help Maddy accomplish her goal after observing how wonderful Maddy was with the kids.
Chris finally said yes when Linda asked him the question a few months later, but he was open about not wanting to be a “silent donor.” He hoped to be an active parent who lived with the child. Even though it’s challenging and the three parents must frequently improvise to get around annoyances, a shared Google Calendar (along with a lot of love and devotion) keeps them all on track. Linda says, “We’ll just keep going and figuring it out as we go, what works best for all of us.”
Check out Linda Fruits’ book, The Mom Life: The Sweet, the Bitter and the Bittersweet Fruits of Motherhood, which covers not only her own family life but also “everything no one told her” about being a mom, to learn more about this unusual family.
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