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I am a step mother, so how children deal with divorce is something I've witnessed first hand and thought about a lot.

Divorce isn't just the person, it's everything that goes with it - your kids, the adjustment, everything.

Divorce in and of itself, and with children, is devastating.

Divorce is fairly common these days, and I think many times people disregard the emotional impact that divorce has on a couple and a family, because it happens so frequently.

We've all been affected by divorce in one way or another, whether we've experienced it personally, or witnessed family or friends go through it.

I didn't want to get divorced, but at the point where your children are part of it, you have to do something. I would really love it not to have happened because it haunts you, it will never go away, and it is probably the biggest failure, and I have to live with that.

Speaking as the child of divorce, I have to say that one of the most disconcerting findings in 'The Longevity Project' focused on divorce: On average, grown children of divorced parents died almost five years earlier than children from intact families.

Most marriages are a mess, and the children get caught between two bitter, antagonistic parents. My parents stayed married for 27 unhappy years, till their kids were grown, and this was a catastrophe for us.

You can't underestimate how traumatic divorce is for the children.