One autumn evening, under the low-lying sky of the Eure-et-Loir region of central France, Magali, aged 59, discovered that the tranquility of the countryside offered no protection from personal storms. After 25 years of marriage, her husband announced that he was leaving her: "He wanted to change his life; he couldn't find himself in our relationship anymore. A few months later, I learned that he had fallen in love with a younger woman. I'd never felt such pain." Twenty, 30, 40 years together... and then, suddenly, it all stops.

"Gray divorces" – a reference to the hair color of the protagonists – are becoming more visible. Long inconspicuous, this phenomenon is now confirmed by the figures. According to a study by L'Institut national d'études démographiques (National Institute of Demographic Studies, INED) published in February 2021, divorces involving men over 50 represented 38% of all break-ups in 2016, more than double the figure for 1996, when they accounted for just 17% of cases. Among women in their 50s, the trend is similar: they accounted for 29% of divorces in 2016, compared with 11% 20 years earlier. The relative share of divorces involving couples over 60 even tripled during this period.

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