Other than destigmatizing consensual nonmonogamous relationships among gay men, I also have interest in contributing to efforts to examining and understanding middle-adulthood. There is more interest in exploring topics focusing on youth and young adults in general. Fortunately, the work of aging studies has increased in recent years. For example, I come across exciting findings about Alzheimer’s disease recently. Still my overall impression is more people want to know what is coming in their next life stage and how they can maintain better mental/physical health longer.

Across the research landscape, the middle-age demographics typically do not receive a lot of attention compared to other groups. When we narrow down to middle aged gay men population, the type of research centering on this group’s topics, concerns, and experiences is even more scarce. There are studies about gay men’s middle-adulthood, of course. However, they are not as substantial when considering the amount of research data and findings available for other groups. Now if someone is interested in learning more about gay men’s long-term consensual nonmonogamous (CNM) or open relationships in middle adulthood – which is my research is focusing on addressing, we have almost like a unicorn level of rare.

I am still looking for participants to interview. We are close to the finish line. If you are interested or know someone who might be interested in participating in my dissertation study, please share my website or post with them. The eligible interviewees will need to be gay male, in their 40’s or 50’s. They also need to be in a long-term, or at least 1-year, consensual nonmonogamous (CNM) or open relationship. I have other posts and details on my website that describe or explain the goals of this qualitative research project. I appreciate anyone’s referrals, or self-referrals, or kind suggestions. Thank you again for reading and your help in advance!