Quarter of menopausal women get 'second wave of sisterhood' from the experience

A quarter of women experiencing menopause say the best thing about it is getting a ‘second wave of sisterhood’, according to research. A study of 2,000 who are peri-menopausal, menopausal or who have had the menopause, found 14 per cent have made more friends by sharing their experiences of the life stage than they could ever have imagined. While three in 10 admitted it felt like a new community of people formed around them – women who were experiencing the same things and who wanted to share their journey. With 64 per cent feeling the recent rise of celebrities such as Linda Barker and Davina McCall talking openly about what has happened to them has had a positive impact. Debbie Thomas, for hygiene and health company Essity, which commissioned the study, said: “Menopause can clearly be a challenge for a lot of women and we certainly don’t want to suggest that it can be an easy time for those experiencing it. “But as we can see from our research, there is comfort to be had from sharing stories with others in the same boat. “And women are no longer as embarrassed to talk about what is happening to them as previous generations might have been – it feels like that mindset of hiding the truth is finally changing.”