Anonymous wrote:Do they ever actually work? Any success stories? Talking about at least 15-20 years.

Sure, mainly if the gap is proper gender wise, with the male being the older one.

Many men do not mature emotionally anymore until their 30s to 40s so it's gaining in popularity for women in their 20s who want a family to marry a man in their 30s to 40s now, as he's less likely to abuse or leave her, plus is more emotionally stable from life experiences.

It works fine until someone is old AF and the other still wants (and deserves) to live their life

Anonymous wrote:Do they ever actually work? Any success stories? Talking about at least 15-20 years.

Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones, who could have had her pick of men at the age she married him.

Anonymous wrote:Do they ever actually work? Any success stories? Talking about at least 15-20 years.

My MBA friend married a professor who was divorced with a grown daughter. She was between 15-20 years younger. But very professional and mature for her age. She was attracted to his intellect, sense of humor, and matching churchgoing religion.

They had a happy marriage of 20+ years and two kids. Unfortunately the husband got cancer and died during the younger son's senior year of high school. My friend is soldiering on but is quite sad to be widowed young (late 50s).

I think she made a good choice, since she was really in love. She went in with no blinders on. Having kids was agreeable to both of them and she was able to create a functional family relationship with the grown daughter since the husband had been divorced and single for a long time. Her kids are good kids and are helping her stay strong.

Studies have shown that large age gaps have a higher divorce rate.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-bigger-the-age-gap-the-shorter-the-marriage-2014-11-11

https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/navigating-the-love-gap/201802/is-a-big-age-difference-problematic-for-a-relationship#:~:text=A%20widely%2Dcirculated%202014%20Emory%20University%20study%20of,gaps%20of%2C%20say%2C%2010%20or%2020%20years.

My friend was married to a guy 9 years older. They divorced after 7 years.

My dh is 15 years older than me. We've been married 23 years. He is 71 now and slowing down significantly. But I married "in sickness and health" so I'm not going anywhere. In truth, I could be the one to get really sick first and need the help.

I do suggest before one goes into it, to really think and research and ask questions and talk to each other honestly.

Never works .

My husband is 18 years older than me. We've been married 21 years. I know it might not be easy when he's older, but then again, he's a doctor and has been looking after my health issues for a long time, so...

In most of the world, there isn't an expectation that you marry someone who is the same age as you.

Only in the US do you hear that people don't think they can have a conversation or find anything in common with anyone who isn't within a year or two of their birthday. Most people are more used to multigenerational families, workplaces, and societies and are better able to navigate the social world and engage in healthy ways with people of a range of ages. Compatibility in most of the world is about so much more than age. The US is the only place where you hear complete disbelief that anyone could be compatible with someone who is a few years older or younger.

10 year age gap, married over 25 years.

It depends on the relationship goals. When I divorced in my early 40s I was dating people in their early to mid 30s and 1-2 in their late 20s. Granted, I was not seeking to find another spouse. For me it was finding someone to spend time with. You'd be surprised how easy it is to have commonalities even with 10+ years age gap.

But, the key is relationship goals. If one person is looking to date for marriage while the other is not it doesn't matter the age gap.

Any relationship you can imagine has worked at least once.

Some do of course. They love to flaunt it when they are the grooming success couple. Celine and her elderly husband told everyone they were extremely happy.

Not ideal. At all. I wouldn’t

Do they ever actually work? Any success stories? Talking about at least 15-20 years.