Does waiting to have sex affect the quality of your relationship?

Celibacy as a practice has nothing to do with being in a relationship or not. That much should be obvious to everyone by now.

The decision to not have sex until a certain time [or never] is meant to be rooted in a personal decision, a strong conviction that should be independent of the views and opinions of others.

You can be happy in a celibate relationship, just as you'd be in a sexual one. [Credit Freepik] Freepik

With that said, what’s to be considered next is whether or not celibacy has an effect on the type of relationship one has – if they choose to be in a relationship in that period of sexlessness. Is there any negative – or maybe positive implication – of being celibate while in a relationship?

The answer to this, as with many relationship questions, is pretty subjective to the conditions of each situation.

ALSO READ: Why it's OK to have less sex as your relationship progresses

When both partners know what they are getting into

For people who have clearly stated that they want to be celibate before entering into the relationship, and have had the needed conversations with their partner before getting involved, then it's not expected for such relationship to be riddled with sex-related issues or pressure.

Where two people are cool with the idea of celibacy and are mentally aware of what their decision entails, it is expected that such relationship won’t experience rockiness, at least in that regard.

What people in such relationship would have to devise is how to go through all the motions in interesting ways that exclude sex. And in this piece here, we have listed in detail, all the things you can do to be happy in a celibate relationship.

You should have that conversation with a partner on what you expect and the extent you can go to when it comes to sex [Credit - Shutterstock] Shuttershock

When their sex ideas are not aligned

On the other hand, when only one partner subscribes to the idea of a sexless relationship and the other secretly wishes to change their mind before they feel ready for it, the relationship gets destabilized with issues relating to pressure to have sex, quarrels, resentment and a feeling of dissatisfaction on one partner’s part, at best – although it is most likely that it’s the both of them who would be feeling the effects of the disconnect in sexual needs.

Yet again, this brings to the fore, the absolute necessity of having that all-important communication with a partner about what you expect and the extent you can go to when it comes to sex and how it’s going to be in the relationship.

To refuse to have this conversation before the relationship begins or in its early days is to create problems for yourself that surely could have been avoided.