DOES ROCKING CRADLE
LEAD TO ROCKING BOAT?
Decades-spanning couple reflects on how
building a family made their relationship stronger.
I n t r o d u c t i o n
I n t e r v i e w
Photography by Christopher Logan
b y
b y
S c o t t
K e a r n a n
M i k e
N e l s o n
It takes hard work to maintain a loving long-term relationship. Every couple has their ups and downs, but few will
establish that rare rapport that can survive 10 years, 20 years, or a lifetime. If you’ve managed to stay a steady course as
a childless couple, you have to wonder: Will rocking a cradle wind up rocking the boat? The answer is yes.
Adding a child to the dynamic will assuredly make waves in any relationship. But according to Brian Rosenberg and his
husband Ferd van Gameren – together for nearly twenty years before diapers and cradles took over their home - having
children has fortified, not weakened, their already strong bonds.
And even if their sex life sometimes takes a drubbing (come on, you were thinking it), they say parenthood has actually
added an entirely new level of intimacy. Every couple is different, of course. But for long-term partners who are just now
beginning to consider parenthood, there’s good news according to Brian: Your best years may still be ahead of you.