When two people fall in love, an unbreakable connection can form that transcends many barriers. Love is a powerful emotion, and it doesn’t necessarily discriminate based on race, social status, religion or age.

Yes, age — the topic I delve into in the video below, where I explain why I think stigmatizing relationships with age gaps becomes senseless after a certain point.

The difference in maturity between a 55-year-old and a 36-year-old may be minimal, while the gap between a 22-year-old and a 15-year-old is obviously significant. Similarly, a relationship between a 19-year-old and a 40-year-old would raise very different concerns.

The former are adults with established lives and personalities, while the latter involves a teenager who is still developing and a much older adult with considerably more life experience.

One notable example of a man with a much older wife is Emmanuel Macron, the current President of France. Macron’s wife, Brigitte Macron, is 24 years older than him. Their relationship has been widely discussed in the media, particularly because of the age difference between them.

In the world of music, pianist Ivo Pogorelich married Aliza Kezeradze, who was more than 20 years his senior. She was also his teacher and an important musical influence in his life. They married in 1980 and remained together until her death in 1996.

These examples show that a significant age difference does not automatically determine the outcome of a relationship. People are individuals, and relationships are much more complicated than the number of years between two birthdays.

Society still tends to view relationships with substantial age differences as unusual, particularly when the woman is older. Many people assume that these relationships are destined to fail.

But couples with similar ages break up too. People change, relationships change, and sometimes love simply comes to an end. An age gap isn’t necessarily the reason.

There is also research that complicates the picture. A University of Colorado Boulder study, based on 13 years of data from thousands of Australian households, found that both men and women initially reported greater marital satisfaction when their partner was younger. However, that satisfaction tended to decline more quickly over time among couples with larger age gaps.

So perhaps the answer isn’t as simple as saying that age doesn’t matter at all.

Age can matter. So can money, children, health, different stages of life, family expectations and countless other things. But none of these automatically tells us whether a particular relationship will work.

Those who choose to embark on relationships with a significant age difference fall in love just like anyone else. Age can become much less important when two people genuinely connect.

Ultimately, if a relationship ends, it doesn’t necessarily mean the age difference was responsible. Sometimes a relationship simply runs its natural course.

In the grand scheme of life, forever is an elusive concept, and the idea of “till death do us part” is no exception. It would be wise to approach relationships without expecting perfection from our partners. After all, they are human beings with their own unique strengths and weaknesses, just like everyone else.

For me, the important distinction is between two consenting adults who are capable of making their own decisions and relationships where there is a serious imbalance of power, experience or ability to consent.

We can question a relationship, disagree with it or find the age difference surprising. But that doesn’t necessarily give us the right to judge two adults simply because their birthdays are far apart.

Want to Watch Films About Age-Gap Relationships?

If you’re interested in this subject and want to explore some of these relationship dynamics through film, you can also read my selection of films about older women and younger men. Some are romantic, some complicated and some far from conventional — but they all look at relationships where age is part of the story.