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The Oprah Podcast

Gray Divorce (after 50) & Adult Children: The Fallout for the Family, with Oprah and Leading Experts

October 28, 2025·52m

Oprah is joined by a live audience in New York City for a candid conversation about the soaring rates of divorce for people over the age of 50, what experts are calling "gray divorce.” Even though the overall divorce rate is on the decline, the divorce rate for people over 50 has doubled and more than tripled for those over 65. Oprah is joined by Susan Guthrie, a family law attorney and host of the popular podcast, Divorce and Beyond®. Joining the conversation are Lori Gottlieb, psychotherapist, and author of the New York Times bestselling book, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone and Dr. Susan L. Brown, co-author of the studies identifying this national phenomenon, and a Distinguished Professor at Bowling Green State University. We also hear from several women who are in the early stages of gray divorce, have gone through gray divorce and adult children of parents who divorced after age 50. 00:00:00 - Rising divorce rates after 50 (“gray divorce”) 00:02:00 - Expert insights with Dr. Susan Brown 00:03:18 - Why gray divorce is on the rise 00:04:09 - Guest: Family law attorney Susan Guthrie 00:06:20 - Guest: Lori Gottlieb, author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone 00:11:00 - Why divorce feels shameful 00:14:30 - Men’s surprise at women’s “invisible work” 00:16:22 - Is divorce always terrible?