Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
In this episode, we delve into a profound conversation with Claire Gill, the founder of the National Menopause Foundation (NMF), as we explore the often-overlooked connection between menopause and divorce. Over and over again, in conversations, webinars, and group meetings with the NMF, women often reference feeling convinced that they were going to get a divorce during the journey to menopause.
Join us as we shed light on the complexities, challenges, and emotions that can intertwine these life events. Our culture’s lack of awareness and understanding of the physical and emotional symptoms of perimenopause can impact relationships and even influence major life decisions. Being informed and aware of symptoms can help discern whether issues are related to menopause or truly reflective of challenges in a relationship. Don't miss this essential conversation on a topic affecting all women.
Need help from Claire? Contact her by visiting www.nationalmenopausefoundation.org.
If you are in need of legal assistance in North Carolina, contact us at Gailor Hunt by visiting www.divorceistough.com.
Like this show? Rate it here!
Creators & Guests
What is A Year and a Day: Divorce Without Destruction?
Board-certified family law attorney Jaime Davis and her guests provide information and tips for getting through a separation and divorce without destroying family relationships or finances. From marriage therapists and financial planners to private investigators and parenting coordinators, learn how to navigate divorce without destruction.
Jamie - 00:00:05:
Welcome to A Year in a Day. I'm Jaime Davis, board certified family law attorney at Gailor Hunt. On this show, I talk with lawyers, psychologists, and other experts with the goal of helping you navigate divorce without destruction. In this episode, I'm talking with Claire Gill, founder of the National Menopause Foundation, and we'll be discussing menopause and divorce. The intersection of these two life events raises questions, challenges, and emotions that require attention and understanding. Join us as we explore the complex dynamics, share personal stories, and provide insights into how to navigate this significant transition. Whether you're contemplating divorce in the midst of it or supporting someone who is, this episode will offer valuable perspectives and guidance on this often uncharted territory. Thanks for joining me, Claire.
Claire - 00:00:58:
Thanks so much for having me. This is great topic to cover, and I'm really excited to talk with you about it.
Jamie - 00:01:04:
Yes, I am really interested in hearing what you have to say. So tell us about the National Menopause Foundation.
Claire - 00:01:11:
So I founded the National Menopause Foundation at the end of 2019. I'd been working for a number of years in women's health in another area. And it came to my attention that there was nothing traditionally what we call patient advocacy related. For women at menopause. And I thought this couldn't be possible. Because there's really a nonprofit for just about everything. Yet there was this huge gap in helping and supporting women at Menopause. So we launched, as I said, at the end of 2019. And our mission is to demystify this normal life stage and help provide good scientifically sound information and education for women. About, as I said, a natural stage of life that we are not taught about and we have very little conversation about. So it's really important that as we think about the different transitions we go through throughout our life period. We are knowledgeable about this one as well.
Jamie - 00:02:14:
What a wonderful resource. I am so glad that you are here to talk to us about all of these wonderful things that you're right. There's just not a lot of information out there that's easily available to women on this issue.
Claire - 00:02:28:
Yeah, it's really, when you think about how much we know and learn about puberty, you know, the beginning of this journey we take through our reproductive years. And then there's parenting and or birthing classes and things like that, if that's what you choose to, you know, to do. And then there's nothing. Yet all women, if we live long enough and are healthy enough will experience menopause at one stage or another. We won't all become mothers, but we will all experience menopause. And yet there is no basic education about it. And it can be really, really confusing for women. And particularly as we're talking about on this podcast. When you have other things happening in your life as well, some other major changes that you're contemplating or considering, or experiencing through no choice of your own. Um, menopause can either, um, complicate that or support that, I guess.
Jamie - 00:03:27:
So let's talk about that. Is there a relationship between menopause and divorce?
Claire - 00:03:31:
I don't know that there's any statistics about it. That would be really interesting to pursue a little deeper. But what I do know is on almost every conversation, webinar, group meeting that I've been part of about menopause, one of the things referenced is, oh my God, I thought I was gonna get a divorce. I wanted to leave my spouse. I wanted to leave my children. This is just unbelievable. And that's a common theme. So I would imagine for several reasons, there is probably a connection to it when people choose to pursue divorce at this stage of life. And then, you know, in middle, what we consider middle age, you know, late forties to early fifties. Um, one of the things I say to people is, you know, as you're journeying through this time, if you are experiencing, you know, sudden changes in your relationship? One of the things we do need to take stock of is our own mental and physical health. At this stage of life. Because that can, as I say, play a part in how we're interacting. With those in our lives.
Jamie - 00:04:44:
So what do you think are some of the key factors that link these two very big life events, divorce and divorce?
Claire - 00:04:53:
Well, I think one of the things is, again, the lack of education, the understanding about what actually happens to us at Menopause. Think the symptoms we're most familiar with and that we've seen in pop culture are hot flashes. Hot flashes and night sweats, which are also called medically vasomotor symptoms. So they're the most common symptom that women experience. All races, all ethnicities, all ages of women experience those hot flashes and night sweats. But what we're not aware of is that there's over 30 symptoms of menopause. And some of those actually relate to our psychological health, our mental health. And those are the things that I think are more confusing. When we start to have depression or anxiety, when we may not have had that previously in our lives, or when those suffering from depression and anxiety get more severe symptoms in those areas, that can be because again, of the, sorry, the hormonal changes happening in our bodies. And those are the things that we don't talk about. So for instance, we say the things that maybe we could put up with, the habits that our spouses or our children have always exhibited, all of a sudden become just unbearable. And that we think, oh my God, I can't take this anymore. And so. That is the kind of thing where I think it's really important for women to be aware of, oh, there's a lot going on. If you think back to puberty and what a rollercoaster that was, well, the same is happening to us at menopause and as we journey to menopause. And there's also, honestly, basic misunderstanding about what a menopause is. Menopause itself is just the day your period has stopped for 12 consecutive months. That's menopause. Everything before, it's called perimenopause. And everything after it is Postmenopause. But what we think of as menopause is really that journey, when we start to experience symptoms. And if you don't know that you can experience those cyst symptoms seven to 10 years before your period stops. Well then you're in your 40s thinking, oh my God, I can't stay with the person I'm with. I don't wanna be around this situation. And not realizing, oh, your body has started these changes and it's going to have an extreme effect, perhaps, on your decision making. So that's, I think, part of the link. And that's what I'd say Jamie is just. Cautioning people. As we talk about. Making big decisions. About life changes at this stage of life. We need to really think about. Did the issues you have? Have they always been in the relationship? You know, and if so, then that's clear sign. That you really need to do something and do work on that relationship or leave that relationship. But if you're suddenly having these issues and they're related to things that, Um, maybe didn't bother you before, then that's kind of me assigned to say, okay. Maybe it's a communications problem and really need to talk with both your healthcare provider. And your partner. About what's happening. And perhaps some of those, you know, opportunities to get support for the symptoms that we're having at menopause will also help the relationship.
Jamie - 00:08:31:
So we talked about how perhaps the symptoms of menopause can cause you to be less patient and things may bother you now that didn't bother you before. In what other ways do you think these physical changes can impact a marriage and what challenges can they pose for couples?
Claire - 00:08:53:
Well, the truth is we're also going through, you know, actual visible physical changes as we go through menopause. And one of the things that women get concerned about because we are not supportive of women and aging in our culture, you know, sometimes there's weight gain. And so women are feeling a little bit less confident about themselves. And there's also huge changes to our sexual health and our sexual desire. And that's another thing that we don't talk about when it comes to, you know, addressing menopause and what happens to us at menopause. Many of the symptoms of menopause that impact our sexual health have easy solutions, and yet women are not provided with the information from their health care providers because we don't talk about it with our health care providers. No one wants to really go into the doctor and say, hey, I'm having vaginal drying. What can I do about this? Particularly if they have a male doctor and not a female doctor that they're experiencing this with. And even having those conversations with partners is hard. There is another symptom, a common symptom, at menopause is loss of libido. And so then your partner might start feeling neglected. You know, oh, they're not sexually attracted to me anymore. We have no physical relationship anymore. All of those things. And again, if it's not talked about, then it just becomes a vacuum where neither party understands what the other is feeling or why. And for women too, not realizing that, that, oh, I don't have that intense desire. That I once had? Is not anything to do with your relationship or your partner. That is an actual physical reaction you're having. To losing estrogen. And again, there's many things from hormone replacement therapy to Vaginal Estrogen to even just lubrication that can be applied. That really does help a relationship. But that is not common discussion. In our culture and in our relationships. So it can be really confusing. And again, if you're not willing to talk about it, sometimes it's just assumptions made and then bad feelings occur and that just grows and grows and grows.
Jamie - 00:11:15:
Right, I mean the first step to fixing any problem is you have to talk about it and you have to address it with your support people, right? If you're married and you have a supportive spouse, bring up these issues with your spouse and hopefully the two of you can work together to find a solution.
Claire - 00:11:30:
Yeah, but even you guys, again, knowing that it's normal, that it's not just you. Right. It's funny, we kind of still, I have, my daughter's young, I still have moms in the school who are 10 to 20 years younger than me and they'll come up. Those are that are reaching that menopausal stage and they'll be coming up and be like, hey. Are you doing that Menopause thing? I'm like, yeah, we don't have to whisper about it. You can actually, you can say it. We can talk about it. Um, just having girlfriends that you can talk to about it and say, you know, but again. It's a really hard thing to initiate. And so that's why I hope the National Menopause Foundation will help by providing this information. Free and anonymous and it's you know however women need to get it. Either on our website or through a podcast or in a newsletter that lets them know. Oh. This is very normal. I'm not the only one experiencing this. That makes it easier to have the conversation than even approaching your best friend and being like, Hey, how's your sex life going? I mean, you don't do that, you know, and so but it's funny because sometimes when an article appears or talks about that, then you have the conversation. Or even a podcast like this where people listen to it and hear, oh wow, that's happening to me too. And then you can reference it and joke about it and talk about it. And that's really what's important, but it's not easy. It's not easy for women to have these conversations, yet it's really important.
Jamie - 00:12:52:
So what are some of the common misconceptions or stereotypes surrounding menopause and its connection to divorce that you've encountered?
Claire - 00:13:01:
Well, there's tons of misconceptions about menopause and midlife in general, and that is You know, there was, I think a lot of focus on just the negatives of it, right? You experiencing these symptoms. You know, that. The things associated with being hysterical or being so emotional or, Um, again, aging and becoming unattractive. And I think I hope. That some of that is changing in our culture. And I use the example that has been discussed a lot in the menopause circles and with other organizations about, for those of you old enough to remember the show, The Golden Girls, when The Golden Girls came out, those women that all decided to live together represented women going through menopause. Blanche was actually experiencing hot flashes and going through menopause. So when we look back on what those women looked like and now flash forward to J.Lo and Halle Berry and Gwyneth Paltrow and who are actually all talking about menopause, that's what a woman at menopause looks like today and is being shared with people. And I think that's very different. So that misconception that life ends at menopause is one of the biggest aha moments for me where it's like, oh no, no, no, that doesn't have to be true. But it is again, just a cultural thing that we have that people don't appreciate aging and women aging in particular the way that we should. And so I think the change has to happen among women themselves and realizing this is a really empowering time of life. The other big misconception, like, we joke about, and not a misconception, but more of the... A positive that's not discussed about menopause is so many women talk about the fact that they've never felt better, stronger, more confident going into this stage of life. And if we could just teach our younger selves to feel this way, how much better we'd be throughout our whole lives. You know, you care less about what other people think and you really follow your own internal compass. And that's just one of the pluses that comes with reaching this stage of life. And so those are the things that I think are really important. And when you tie that back to... The topic we're talking about today, divorce, I think too, some of the, you know, women and men who experience divorce at this stage of life comes from that empowerment, right? Maybe they weren't in a position to do something about the relationship issues they were having or to take that leap. And then they reach menopause and realize, no. This is what is right for me. This is what I need to do to make the rest of my life healthy and happy. And so again, I think that might be too why we see a lot of divorce at midlife.
Jamie - 00:16:09:
Yeah, it's really interesting. I mean, there has been a market increase in what we call great divorce, divorce over 50. And it seems to be one of the reasons in my experience is that women especially no longer have to settle. They have their own resources their own jobs. You know they don't have to stay with someone that they don't want to be with just for financial support any longer. And so there seems to be a real increase in people that get to that stage of life and they're like, I still have a lot of life left. I want to be happy. And I think that that can lead to some divorces.
Claire - 00:16:46:
Absolutely. And again, that's again taking stock of where we are in our lives and what that position is I think also some of the empty nesting, you know There's such guilt sometimes when you think about breaking up your family unit And so when the children are off on their own, you know moving on to college or things like that That's also a time for couples to say oh, it's just the two of us And like you said, are we happy is this right or are we moving in different directions? Do we want different things? And so it's important again to have that kind of communication in all things. I think it's really a great time to take stock of our lives as we reach menopause with for women physically and emotionally. How are things going? You know, what do we want out of life and then making sure that we're taking steps to lead us in that direction
Jamie - 00:17:37:
So for any listeners that we have who may be considering divorce during menopause, what can they do to prepare themselves?
Claire - 00:17:49:
Well, I guess there's a lot of different things, I would say, from the perspective of just the health aspect to it. It is making sure that you do have a support system and that you are making the decisions about your life based on the reality versus a temporary symptom you might be experiencing, right? The depression, the anxiety, the loss of libido, all of those things will not last. So, do you wanna make a permanent change over something that is not a permanent situation? I think that's really an important thing to consider. So, I would say make sure that when you talk about having your support system, it's making sure that you're checking on your physical health, that you are aware and keeping track of your symptoms that you might be having, physically, emotionally, all of that. We have an excellent checklist of the symptoms of menopause on our website, which is nationalmenopausefoundation.org. And I think, again, just sort of knowing what's happening to you, both physically and emotionally at this time, will help you make the right decision about whether or not a permanent change is needed in your relationship or a big conversation about what you're experiencing and the support you need. And it might be, I need more time to myself. I need to be able to pursue some of my own interests at this time. And maybe that will help with the relationship versus this person doesn't understand me. I'm experiencing all of these things I don't understand, I'm changing and I don't know why I'm changing, but my attitude, my behaviors, all of that is changing. And so, if you know what those changes are, or those things are that you need, and you're kind of tracking that a little bit, I think that'll help you make the decision, as I said, whether or not there's always been something wrong in the relationship or you've always been feeling this way and it's just amplified because you're at this stage of life versus this has come on due to hormonal changes that you're having.
Jamie - 00:19:59:
It seems like that could be very complicated to determine given that perimenopause can last for years. I mean, if you've been having these symptoms for years, at what point do you say it's the relationship versus it's the symptoms that I've now had for five years? I think that could be very hard to discern.
Claire - 00:20:17:
Well, I think one of the big things would be, like you said, that conversation with your partner. If you go to your partner and say, hey, I've been having these symptoms, I think I'm going through, you know, this, I think I'm going through menopause or I'm perimenopausal, here's what I'm feeling. How that partner responds to that, you know, if it's, what can I do, right? Or I've noticed, you know, how can we, you know, what do you need is a very different response than, well, it's your problem or go fix it, right? I would say the first means you potentially have an opportunity to actually really work on the relationship while you're figuring out the symptom. Thing versus this person, you know, is making it all about you and your problems and not sharing in the fact that it's a partnership. So I would think, you know, that kind of says it. If you don't feel comfortable talking to your partner at all about your own physical changes or what you want in life, again, I think that's another symptom of, you know, problems in a relationship perhaps that, you know, either counseling maybe could solve or et cetera, but I think all of that needs to be, you know, really looked at carefully and it's gonna be very different for every woman, just like every woman experiences menopause very differently. You might have no reaction to me. You might go through, I've had women say, oh, I just sailed through, I didn't even notice. And then I've had other women say, it has been the most difficult stage of my life. It was worse than birth. It was, you know, the pain of birth. I've just had all of these, you know, changes physically that have been so dramatic and I had no idea that it was coming. And so again, just like in anything in our lives, it's just a different experience. So know yourself first and really figuring out what makes you happy and what you need, I think is gonna be the key. Like you said, it's hard to just say, Well, I'm having hot flashes, so therefore everything wrong with my relationship is related to my hot flash. That's not realistic, you know? But as I said, if you're experiencing depression or anger or emotional mood swings in a way that you haven't before and little things set you off, I was joking actually in a previous podcast about my reaction to my husband and daughter not picking up after themselves. Well, they've never really picked up themselves. There's socks on the floor, there's this line here, that's lying there. And all of a sudden, I'm in the middle of our kitchen crying because they won't put the butter back in the fridge after using it and being like, I can't take this anymore. And so I was laughing to myself being like, oh, right. Why now am I having such an overreaction to it? Or like what I think is an overreaction. When I was able to put up with it for years before, I think that's it. Then it was my, oh, right, I'm experiencing some changes. Let me just take a deep breath. Let me just let this moment pass for a minute and then start seeing if I'm noticing patterns in, oh, I'm getting upset about something that I normally don't get upset about, or I'm tired in a way I've never been tired before. That's another big one where we think, I'm just so exhausted, I'm just exhausted by it all. And then you realize that really is just our bodies changing and it's not gonna be forever. We will get that energy back. We will get our libido back. We will feel better in our own skin. It's just trying to adjust to these stages, just like we all made it through puberty. We survived, came out the other end.
Jamie - 00:24:04:
Can you share any success stories or examples of how individuals have navigated menopause and divorce successfully while minimizing stress and complications?
Claire - 00:24:14:
You know, I was, I don't have anything specific to share other than like, you know, related to what happened when the relationship or where it went. But I was talking recently with some friends and a group of friends and one of them shared that she was thinking about, you know, making, taking this step. But it was, it wasn't out of anger or emotion. It was a change in direction of how things were going. Their life was going and their relationship was going and seemed to be very friendly, but just sort of thinking, this isn't for us long-term. And so my reaction to that was like, wow, that's really mature way to look at it, right? That this is just, wow, we're not kind of right at this stage in our lives for each other. And it doesn't have to be adversarial. It can just be, we've grown into different people and you know, now we're thinking about pursuing different things and not together. Some people choose to pursue different things together and others, you know, choose to again, take that step and separate. And I think the, I've again, I've heard a lot of women say, oh my God, I thought I was going to get a divorce going through this stage of life and kind of laughing about it later, you know, being like, oh my God, yeah. Because more and more women said again, on these webinars or on these calls or in these online communities, oh my God, me too. And then realizing, oh yeah, this is just something that happens as we change those amplifications of things that bother us or things that we want and all of those things. So, I do think there's a way to do it, but it's to do it in a healthy way. And that has nothing to do though, again, with situations of domestic abuse or, you know, or other kind of symptoms in a marriage that have nothing to do with the woman choosing to change her life at this stage. You know what I mean? I think there's those are things that we have to be very careful about. No one should stay in a relationship that is unhealthy. Thinking, oh, it might, I'm just experiencing hormonal changes. It's all me. You know, I said, I want to be very careful about that. It's really important to talk with someone, talk with your healthcare provider, talk with a friend or someone you trust to sort of help you navigate whether or not, you know, you're experiencing something that is a temporary thing due to a change of life versus something that's been, you know, again, a problem that, you know, is unsafe and unhealthy and you need to remove yourself from it.
Jamie - 00:27:04:
Yeah, that's a great point since so many abusers like to resort to gaslighting anyway. And if you're just relying on what they're saying to you, that it's all you and not them, that can certainly be problematic.
Claire - 00:27:15:
Yeah. And I know it's really difficult and we talk a lot in our medical training that we do. So I'm often asked to speak on continuing medical education programs for clinicians who are working with women at Menopause. And I do other medical training through the organization I run on the bone health side. And one of those things is how to have that conversation with your doctor. Even difficult conversations. You know, I talked earlier about maybe you don't want to talk about, you know, your sexual experience with a, with your doctor to sort of share that, but that's actually part of their role. And they should actually be bringing it up with women at midlife, believe it or not. It shouldn't be on the woman to have to have these conversations. They should be asking you about symptoms as you approach menopause. They should be asking you about your sexual health. But they're also busy, right? We have 15 minutes now with our health care provider and we're usually there because we have some kind of, you know, a condition or symptom or something that we're checking up on. But you can schedule time to have that conversation with your clinician. And I think if, if we were empowered enough to do that and say. Hey, I'm experiencing some of these symptoms. I'd like to talk to you about it. And it doesn't, again, the physical symptoms, whether or not, again, that dry skin or your hair changing texture or falling out, or again, hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, anxiety, all of those things you can talk to your healthcare professional about. And I would say we hear often about women being dismissed and not getting the support they need, but, I think there's also a number of health professionals out there who would be willing to be supportive. They're just not asked and they don't have the time sometimes to make the intro themselves. So please try that first with your healthcare provider and if they can't support you, they can recommend you to other resources. So whether that be, again, the National Menopause Foundation to get educational support or to be part of our online community for peer-to-peer support or perhaps, again, someone to help you with your counseling needs. Those are things that your healthcare provider can assist with, so don't be afraid to ask.
Jamie - 00:29:40:
In your experience, what are some of the most common regrets or mistakes that individuals make during the divorce process when menopause is a factor?
Claire - 00:29:52:
You know, I honestly don't know. I have to say, I don't really know the answer to that. We haven't done any studies regarding that, the impact of menopause and divorce. And I haven't heard from women about their regrets to this. It would be a really interesting study though, and something that I'll certainly look into, because I think that is something that maybe we're not making a correlation, and it could be something that would be very helpful to both couples and women, helping them to pull together that resource list of how, like as you alluded to earlier, how do I know whether or not this is something that's being influenced by what I'm experiencing versus a real problem in my relationship? And unfortunately, I don't know of any resources right now that, that, distinguish between the two. I'll check on it though. And if there's other research out there that I'm not aware of, I will definitely pass it along to you and then you can share it with your listeners.
Jamie - 00:30:58:
Yeah, that would be wonderful. I mean, just kind of thinking through the different issues, I'm wondering if maybe a regret could be that a person made a decision to separate without really talking to the medical provider and really thinking through, is this just situational, right? Like, am I just feeling this way because I'm undergoing this life change that really truly has nothing to do with my relationship or not? I mean, I can see where somebody maybe makes that decision without having done the self-analysis first, and perhaps that could be a regret.
Claire - 00:31:32:
Yeah, I would say that would be a regret at any stage of life, choosing to end a relationship without giving it some real thought, you know, if you think about it. And, you know, we talk about in other areas, the don't make a major life decision after a big loss. We talked about it from that. That's a common one that we're all aware of. Well, I think the same thing would be, again, if you're hitting a major life stage, don't make a huge decision without giving it some considerable thought. And as you said, kind of getting the resources and the support you need to determine whether or not it is a permanent solution to a temporary situation. So yeah, I would say that though across the board, I don't think, I think having a regret about not giving enough real thought to something would be true of any stage of life and not just menopause. But I think in other stages of life, we're probably more aware of it. If you just had a baby and you're depressed, we all know about postpartum depression, right? You're not probably going to leave your spouse while you're going through that because you realize, oh, there's some other stuff going on with me. We don't talk about it at menopause, though, and it's the same thing. Wait and figure out how to best take care of you first yourself, get and address the symptoms that you're having. And then again, you'll have been a much better place to decide whether or not you actually need to make a permanent change.
Jamie - 00:33:04:
Great advice. I hope our listeners will heed that advice. I think it's very helpful.
Claire - 00:33:09:
Oh good. Well, again, I think helping women to know themselves and know their bodies better is sort of the basics. It's something that it's really surprises me that in, you know, 2023, we're still talking about the fact that we don't know as women. And actually, science doesn't know. There's unanswered questions about women's physical health. And I think we all need to advocate for more attention to that. We need to demand that research dollars be spent helping to support and improve women's health. And that's not the case. That's been neglected for far too long. So I hope as women journey to this stage of life that they will advocate for themselves more, demand more from their clinicians and more support for the symptoms that they're having. And then also to make sure that we continue to prioritize women's health across the lifespan.
Jamie - 00:34:08:
Well, you are reading my mind and anticipating my next question, because I was getting ready to ask you what are some of the broader societal or cultural changes that we should be advocating for to better support menopausal women facing divorce?
Claire - 00:34:22:
Yeah, universally, we need to prioritize women's health, as I said. It is just not a priority. I've seen it in disease states, you know, chronic diseases that impact women more than men. Just don't get prioritized the way diseases that impact men more get prioritized within our health system. Demanding access to care. So there are good treatments that are available, both medicinal and natural, for menopausal symptoms, and some insurance companies don't cover them or only cover certain types of treatment, that's unacceptable. Women should be able to have access to the full spectrum of treatments available, no matter whether that's dealing with menopausal symptoms or other. Diseases that do impact women and I'm talking about osteoporosis, heart disease, breast cancer. We need to ensure that we have access to all the available treatments and that the decision about which treatments to take are between the woman and her health care provider. That's it. And We all know that that's not really the case these days. And so. That's something that I think we can all advocate for. And then, more research. Into this stage of life, into women's health overall. There's been fascinating things I've learned on this journey of both my own menopausal journey and also starting the Menopause Foundation about what we know about the female reproductive system and what we know about the female body in general. And one of the interesting things that I've been hearing recently is that we really need to stop referring to the ovary as a reproductive organ. It is involved in reproduction, but the impact of the ovary on women's health and what the loss of estrogen does to our bodies, not just not being able to reproduce, but as far as our brain health, our cardiac health, our immune health is incredible. And we know very little about it still. So those are the things that I really hope we all individually advocate for, whether that's supporting representatives who are supporting women's health and supporting research, or speaking out and responding to issues that come up in either in your state or your local community or at the national level that are impacting women's health. We all can have a say in that.
Jamie - 00:37:05:
Claire, this has been such a wonderful and informative discussion. Thank you so much for joining us today.
Claire - 00:37:11:
Oh, thank you so much for having me. And really, I hope that everyone listening has a good perspective on how they can take stock of their overall health and well-being at midlife and beyond.
Jamie - 00:37:31:
Thank you for joining us and thank you for listening. If you liked this episode, be sure to follow the show wherever you get your podcast so you don't miss the next one. While the information presented is intended to provide you with general information to navigate divorce without destruction, this podcast is not legal advice. This information is specific to the law in North Carolina. If you have any questions before taking any action, consult an attorney who is licensed in your state. If you are in need of assistance in North Carolina, you can contact us at Gailor Hunt by visiting divorceistough.com. I'm Jamie Davis and I'll talk with you next time on A Year in a Day.