Should You Tell Your Family About Your Spouse’s Affair?

By Katie Lersch

Many spouses aren’t sure if they should tell their family about their spouse’s affair or cheating.  Many times, they would really like their family’s support.  But, in the case of many wives and husbands, they’re also worried that their family will think differently about their spouse and this may be a concern if they later want to save their marriage.

Other times, they’re just ashamed and embarrassed and they don’t want anyone to know.  I often hear comments like “I don’t know if I should tell my mother about my husband’s affair.  She loathes my uncle because he cheated on my aunt. So I know that if she finds out, she will never forgive my husband and will always bring it up and will never let me forget it or him live it down.  But she knows something is wrong between us and she has questions.  Should I tell her?”

Another example is something like: “My children know that there’s something serious going down between my husband and I.  They know that I’ve asked him to leave but they don’t know why and they are angry with me.  Should I tell them that he had an affair so they’ll know I was justified?”

I actually have a definite opinion on this and I will share it with you below.  I do understand wanting to include your family because you want the support of people who love you and you want to be able to unload somewhere.

Why I Think You Should Be Very Careful About Telling Your Family About Your Spouse’s Affair: I have seen this situation go badly many times.  Usually what happens is that, because the wife is furious about the affair, she will tell people in her family because she wants someone to support her and share in her anger.  Who better than your family who is close to you?

And in the beginning, this can feel good and right.  You can feel a lot of justification when your family shares in your outrage.  But later, you might begin to cool off a little.  Or maybe you don’t want to dwell on it as much anymore since you’re trying to heal and move forward. But what happens if your family member won’t let it go? Or continues to question your reasoning if you are trying to move past this?

This is something that you just don’t need.  Also, many times the family member has dealt with infidelity or disappointments themselves and will (usually unintentionally) thwart your efforts to move forward.  Even though they mean well, they might give you comments like “all men cheat and are scum” or “people always disappoint you” or other things that don’t really help you in the long term.

What kind of reaction you get from your family often depends upon the person involved.  I recently heard from someone who told me that she chose to tell her sister about her husband’s affair because she knew her sister was a very supportive and non judgmental person who could be very objective and not hold it against her husband should the wife chose to save the marriage.

Some family members are like this, but I find this to be the exception rather than the rule.  If you have a family member like this, you’re very lucky.  Of course, all family members have the reaction that they do out of love for you.  There is nothing wrong with this.  But it can become a problem when their love for you turns into hatred for your spouse, especially if you eventually want to work things out.

I always find it best to tell someone who is YOUR friend not your spouse’s friend and who is rarely around your spouse.   A therapist is ideal.

BLAM Fam, What do you think? Is telling your family about an affair the way to go or not?

Katie Lersch writes articles about moving past an affair.  Visit her at Survivingtheaffair.com

7 replies
  1. Nata Koerber
    Nata Koerber says:

    A mature friend, clergy member or therapist is ideal. It is risky to tell family, who ofeten take sides, and may be unable to be objective. Worse, they may be subject to throw it up in folks face after teh couple has already worked through it.

  2. Tracy Ann
    Tracy Ann says:

    I think you should tell it to your family. It is the best so that they can give you advise on the problems you are encountering right now.
    My recent post ????? SMS

  3. StealthGenie
    StealthGenie says:

    It’s an awesome write-up. I think telling your family about her/his past relationships isn’t right. They will always be unsure of the things about him and the things that are between you two. Plus there are few things that must be left between the partners.

  4. Carrington
    Carrington says:

    Great article! I agree that you shouldn't tell your family about your spouse's affair. They will never forget it and you will end up having to put your foot down with them and set them straight.

  5. Briana Myricks
    Briana Myricks says:

    I say don't say anything until you have an idea of what you're going to do. A lot of people are so opinionated and will have no problem telling you what you should do, but they're not in your shoes. Don't allow additional people to come between your marriage. Figure out what you're going to do, then inform your family (if you want).
    My recent post The Storm Hits: We’re Laid Off

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