'We're not sexually attracted to each other. We're happily married anyway.'

When Renee packed up her entire life and moved across the world to be with April, everyone called it a romantic gesture. And in many ways, it was — except April and Renee aren't lovers. They're something else entirely.

Platonic life partners.

From early on, April and Renee knew they had a "special" connection.

Growing up in Singapore, they'd been inseparable since meeting at school — merging family holidays and celebrating milestones together.

Watch a video from April about her platonic life partnership. Post continues below.

When April moved to Los Angeles for university, that bond only deepened across the distance.

"I don't think we were able to verbalise it or confirm it to each other until the New Year's of 2019 going into 2020," April told Mamamia.

"It was this romantic New Year's night, just the two of us… We hadn't seen each other the whole year and we spent like eight hours from midnight all the way till 8am walking around the Singapore River talking.

"It was a moment both of us were feeling really lost about the next step in our lives, like there was supposed to be this plan that would be unfolding."

Both women had recently ended long-term relationships and were questioning what came next. The conversation that night changed everything.

"Both of us were not resonating with the idea of having to find your romantic partner to settle down with," April said. "And then we realised, I see that future with you. When I envision my future, you are always there."

The pandemic cemented their decision. Daily calls turned into hours-long FaceTime sessions. In 2021, they made it official: Renee moved to LA.

"I was still in school in LA and she had no real ties to Singapore anymore… so it felt like just a natural next step that she moved here to live with me."

They bonded in middle school and have been inseparable ever since. Image: Supplied.

Today, their partnership looks like any committed relationship — they're financial partners, emergency contacts, and each other's primary emotional support. They navigate the logistics of their shared life together, without the pressure of keeping a romantic spark alive.

"It's always changing, but I guess the one thing that remains constant is really communicating with each other," April said.

April knows when she talks about Renee, she sounds like every other happily married couple.

"For Renee and I, it's like having your best friend and your sister and sometimes your mother too and then sometimes lover, because we're so romantic for each other, all in one person, we just don't have sex.

"We're not attracted to each other in that way."

Renee and April can't imagine life without one another. Image: Supplied.

The reactions when they tell people range from confusion to envy.

"It's everything from 'I don't understand why you guys have to get married' to, 'Holy s***, that makes so much sense. Why didn't I ever think about that?'"

Dating is what she gets asked about most. It's something they're still figuring out. When they have dated others, those partners had to understand April and Renee will always come first.

"Having such a deep connection in your life raises the bar for everyone else," she said.

"Both of us are not really dating right now, at least not actively looking for anything, because we're genuinely so happy and fulfilled."

While April and Renee chose their path deliberately, for others, platonic life partnerships emerge from life's unexpected turns.

A relationship's evolution.

For Fiona, platonic life partnership wasn't a choice, it was an evolution.

She and Max* met through mutual friends, connected when he became close with her housemate, and dated for five years. When he came out as gay six years ago, their romantic relationship ended, but their bond didn't.

"That was a difficult time," Fiona said. "It probably took about a year until we were really close again. We were still always in contact and friendly, but it wasn't the strong bond that we have now."

Today, that bond is stronger than ever. Max stays at Fiona's every Wednesday, joining her and their eight-year-old son for karate and dinner. Their son spends every second weekend at his dad's house, and the three of them holiday together several times a year.

"We've just always loved each other," Fiona said.

"The bond never went away. It just wasn't going to be romantic anymore. We have the same values… and we're always on the same page with how to raise our son."

They're each other's next of kin, beneficiaries in each other's wills, and provide the daily emotional support most people expect from a spouse.

"I trust him with anything and he trusts me with anything," Fiona said. "We both say we're soulmates."

While Max dates freely, Fiona has chosen to stay single for several years. There's no jealousy, just a recognition that what they have works.

"I think about my friends talking about their husbands and all the drama, and I think — I don't have to deal with that, but I've still got my person I can lean on all the time," she said.

The arrangement confuses some people. Max's family occasionally asks if they'll get back together, and other parents at school events often assume they're still a couple.

"People that know us well get it. We get invited to weddings together like we're a couple," Fiona explained. "We're just unique and a bit different to most people."

For Fiona, removing romance and sex from their relationship has only made it stronger.

"Definitely, it's so much easier without that added pressure," she said. "I get all the benefits of leaning on someone, but I also get my own space."

Looking ahead, they both imagine growing old together, "sitting on the porch drinking tea," as Fiona put it. It's an unconventional love story, but for them, it's perfect.

Renee and April are legally married. Image: Supplied.

April knows a platonic life partnership is unconventional, but she's not trying to convince anyone to follow her path. Instead, she wants people to question why we've narrowed love down to one acceptable format.

"It's less like what I want them to understand about me or my relationship," she explained.

"I want them to kind of get more inquisitive about understanding their own idea of what intimacy and love is for them and realise that if it can take any shape for them, then it can take any shape for everyone else."

For April and Renee, their choice came down to working with what they had rather than chasing what they thought they should want.

"This is me and Renee being resourceful with the amazing love and friendship that we do have — to build a life on and the stability of that, instead of trying to seek something that we felt like we didn't have."

In a world obsessed with finding "the one," April and Renee discovered they already had everything they needed. They just had to be brave enough to call it what it was: love, without the script.

*Some names have been changed to protect identities.

Feature image: Supplied.