Does the age gap matter in relationships?
The average age difference between married couples is 3.5 years. How big is too big when it comes to an age gap in a relationship? Age itself isn’t a factor in compatibility —it’s elements like maturity and life experience, which tend to correlate with age, that can make or break a relationship’s long-term potential. So too can future goals, background, culture, family, career, personality, and sexual chemistry
Unfortunately, because of certain biological certainties, May/December relationships are often of a temporary nature. This is simply because the older individual is fated to die before the younger individual. Couples in this kind of relationship may decide that putting the younger partner through this kind of grief is simply not fair and set them free before feelings run any deeper. Another risk is that the older person may lose their sex drive or their looks. Looks can definitely change suddenly and rapidly between the ages of forty and fifty and although the younger person may swear that they will never ever leave you, the sad truth is that most people do not look the same at fifty-five as they did at forty-five.
Another concern is the question of childbearing. Some May/December relationships don’t survive this issue, particularly if ten years into the relationship, the older individual is destined to go into menopause. This is not as big of a problem for men who retain their mating abilities for life, but it certainly is for women who may discover that their young buddy suddenly wants to fulfill his biological directive to have children. Of course, adoption may be an option for couples that find themselves truly in love.
Still there are many pros, as opposed to cons to being in a relationship with a younger person. The younger person benefits from wisdom and experience of their partner and the older person feels revitalized by the ego boost they get from having someone so young finding them attractive. Perhaps the most important thing to remember about the May partner in the romance is that he or she will embrace change more readily than their December partner. If you are a bit eccentric at all, or set in your ways, than a relationship with a big age gap is probably not for you. However, if you have a lot of energy, spontaneity and are the type that can agree to disagree, then there is no reason why you shouldn’t ask that attractive young man or woman across the room out for a date!
By: Francesca and Lisa
Ref: http://lifestyle.msn.com/relationships/article.aspx?cp-documentid=20703148