Objective This study evaluated family of origin adversity and later marital satisfaction, and the possible moderating role of relational communication ability of husbands and wives. Background Family of origin adversity, including parental marital conflict, has a significant negative relationship with offspring's marital decisions, dynamics, and outcomes. Because people with family of origin adversity cannot change their past experiences, studying moderating factors could be helpful for couples' marital satisfaction. Method This study examined dyadic data from the Couple Relationships and Transition Experience (CREATE) study, a nationally representative sample of 1,471 newlywed couples in the United States. The study employed an actor–partner interdependence model to evaluate communication as a moderator for links between family of origin adversity and relationship satisfaction. Results The study confirmed the negative relationship between family of origin adversity and subsequent marital satisfaction for actors and partners for both husbands and wives. Further, the study found that relational communication ability by either partner offset negative links between wives' family of origin adversity and husbands' martial satisfaction, but not wives' martial satisfaction. Conclusion This study confirmed the salience of family of origin adversity as couples establish new marriages. It also highlighted the value of communication as a possible path toward intervention regarding negative experiences from a family of origin, particularly when considering connections between wives' family of origin adversity and husbands' relationship satisfaction. Implications This research suggests couple communication may be a valuable tool with application for couples, family life educators, and couple therapists as they help couples successfully navigate difficulties from their families of origin.