Question:
Looking for the actual study that gives the divorce rate as more than 50%.

I am looking for the actual study that lists the post-op divorce rate as more than 50%. I have seen references to this study many times but I can't find it anywhere. Any ideas? Thanks!    — PattyL (posted on June 16, 2004)

June 15, 2004
I undersatand the national divorce rate for EVERYONE floats near 50% over the long term. Most of my friends are divorced:( I am a product of a divorce. My parents split when I was one week old. I am 47 growing up without a dad was the PITS:(:(:( It wasnt acceptable back then.<P> But I DONT believe 50% of everyone who gets WLS ends up divorced. Being part of a HUGE support group its just not true for our group. Our surgeons group has done thousands of WLS and presently is doing near 30 a week. Many spouses show up both before and after surgery. <P> I am SAD to report theres ONE exception. Where both the husband and wife qualify for surgery but ONLY one gets it. Long term with one thin and one heavy the divorce rate reported by my surgeon is near 100%.<P> The generally accepted rule is this. Good marriages get better, bad iones go away. Some folks settled pre op for anyone who would have them. After surgery the new you realizes say a abusive wife beater isnt good enough and moves on. They show up on Q&A from time to time. In cases like this its good they can get out.<P> Then we have a thankfully small minority who want to cheat. They typically dont get a real friendly reception here.<P> If your getting surgery for your HEALTH, then I wouldnt worry too much about it. Without decent health little else matters.
   — bob-haller

June 15, 2004
Sadly, I think Bob is right. I heard something just the other day about the divorce rate in this country and it was just over 50%. I believe if you have a good marriage, it will stay good or get better. If you have a bad one, it will probably stay bad or get worse. In two cases I've seen though where the marriage was not too good because of esteem issues with one spouse being MO, when the weight came off, the marriage got better. It was funny but once the MO person took responsibility for their own health, they also took responsibility for their own happiness instead of depending on the spouse to make them happy. Both those couples started behaving like newlyweds. It was pretty cool to see and I can honestly say, my husband and I are a lot happier together too since I'm happier.
   — scbabe

June 16, 2004
I believe the study said that it's a 50% divorce rate WITHIN 2 YEARS of the surgery. That's what made it different than the general nationwide divorce rate. Sorry I don't remember where I saw it! BTW, I wouldn't worry about it if you have a strong marriage. My dh loved me fat, and he loves me thin. We've had no problems whatsoever.
   — mom2jtx3

June 16, 2004
There is a common misconception that the "national divorce rate" is approximately 50%, but that just is not the case. This number was arrived at by using the number of marriages in any given year to that of the number of divorces in that same year. Currently, the number of divorces is approximately half of the number of marriages that occur this year, for example. But this does not equal 50% of ALL marriages ending in divorce. The only way this equation would make sense was if 50% of the couples who got married this year also got divorced this year. It doesn't make sense to include divorces from marriages that occured 10 or more years ago that just happened to occur this year. There is no way that anyone can conclude that half of all people getting married this year are going to end up divorced based on this kind of study. In reality, the true numbers of marriages ending in divorce is approximately 30%. <p>As for divorces among WLS couples, I have seen much evidence indicating that the rate is quite a bit higher due to changing dynamics in the marriage when the weight is lost. Some couples can handle it and some can't.
   — artistmama

June 16, 2004
If out of 100 marriages, 50 divorices occur, it doesn't mean that 50% of the people married get divoriced. it also needs to be factored in the ones who marry -divorice , remarry - divorice etc. Divoriced people who remarry have a much higher rate of divorice than first marriages.
   — **willow**

June 17, 2004
I have a pretty large network of post-op friends, and am thankful that none are divorced yet, since their WLS. At least none that I know of... fingers are crossed for all my friends.
   — kultgirl