Both collapse into bed at the end of the day.” (Age 50)Ī husband with serious health issues was another common theme. Lack of energy and worrying about them causes a reduction in sexual activity.” (Age 53) “Caring for older parents at the present. “I feel my role in life at present is to bring up my 12-year-old son relationships come second.” (Age 50)

Some women said life was too complicated to make time for sex - 8 percent said their partner was too tired for sex, and 9 percent of women said they were also too tired for sex.

My husband was my childhood sweetheart, there will never be anyone else.’’ (Age 72) (Women who were not having sex cited multiple reasons for the decline, which is why the percentages exceed 100.) The main reason was losing a partner to death or divorce, which was cited by 37 percent of the women. The women’s written answers about why they stopped having sex revealed the pain and sadness behind the percentages. Over all, 78 percent of the women surveyed said they had an intimate partner, but fewer than half the women (49.2 percent) said they had active sex lives. But the survey data are unique because about 4,500 of the women also left written comments, giving researchers a trove of new insights about women’s sex lives. The women, aged 50 to 74, answered multiple-choice health questionnaires about their sex lives at the start of the study. The latest study, published in the medical journal Menopause, is based on surveys of more than 24,000 women taking part in an ovarian cancer screening study in Britain. It’s not just the availability of the partner - it’s the physical health of the partner as well.” “But what is coming up as a consistent finding is that the partner has such a prominent role. Stephanie Faubion, director of the Mayo Clinic Center for Women’s Health in Rochester, Minn. “We know that menopause seems to have a bad effect on libido, vaginal dryness and sexual pain,” said Dr.

(Most studies have focused entirely on heterosexual women, so less is known about same-sex couples after menopause.) While women traditionally have been blamed when sex wanes in a relationship, the research shows that, often, it’s the health of a woman’s partner that determines whether she remains sexually active and satisfied with her sex life. It’s true that many women experience symptoms after menopause, including vaginal dryness, painful intercourse and loss of desire - all of which can affect the frequency and pleasure of sex.īut the new study shows that the reasons many women stop wanting sex, enjoying sex and having sex are far more complex. New research suggests that the hormonal changes that come with menopause are only part of the reason a woman’s sex life declines with age. For many women, sex after menopause is not as satisfying as it used to be.

Pronlems with not having sex in