[citation needed] The most common form of group marriage appears to be a triad of two women and one man, or less often two men and one woman.
Noyes taught that he and his followers, having reached 200 in number, had thus undergone sanctification; that is, it was impossible for them to sin, and that for the sanctified, marriage (along with private property) was abolished as an expression of jealousy and exclusiveness.
Any given male-female combination in the group was free to have sex, usually upon the man's asking the woman, and this was the common practice for many years.
Group marriage appears in some of the novels of Robert A. Heinlein such as Stranger in a Strange Land (1961), The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (1966), Time Enough for Love (1973), and Friday (1982).
[13] Proposition 31 is a 1968 novel by Robert Rimmer that tells the story of two middle-class, suburban California couples who adopt a relationship structure of polyfidelity to deal with their multiple infidelities, as a rationalistic alternative to divorce.
[14] In James Alan Gardner's book Vigilant (1999) the protagonist is part of a group marriage with multiple men and women involved.
In the 2010 television show Caprica, several main characters are portrayed as being in a polyfidelitous-style marriage consisting of multiple men and women, with each member being equal socially and legally.
When asked about this aspect of the series, co-creator Ronald D. Moore said "In terms of polygamy, it's usually framed in a "Big Love" context – it's one man with many wives.
Their octet primarily exists to exploit a loophole in tax code allowing them to own twenty-two acres of farmland.
[19] In the novel Europa Strike by Ian Douglas, one of the POV characters mentions a couple of non-traditional marriages, including three men, and one man with two women.