No. No, they do not.
Lisa Miller interviewed more than two dozen people about the effects weight-loss drugs have had on their romantic relationships for this article.
• Feb. 2, 2025Updated 10:52 a.m. ET
When Jeanne began to seriously consider taking Zepbound, one of the new-generation weight-loss drugs, she had the briefest of conversations with her husband, Javier. They were in their bedroom at the time, hastily dressing and brushing teeth during that compressed morning interval before their 12-year-old son left for school and Jeanne’s workday began. The exchange was not so much a discussion as the routine conveyance of domestic data, along with the Costco shopping list.
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“I’d like to try this,” Jeanne said to Javier.
“OK,” Javier said.
For both Jeanne and Javier, the decision was easy. Jeanne, who is 53, has struggled with her weight since fifth grade, and blood work from a recent physical exam indicated the worsening of fatty-liver disease. “That was the catalyst,” Javier told me, standing in the large kitchen of their comfortable house in New England, where through a picture window an empty hammock swung wildly in the freezing January wind. From her study nearby, Jeanne was audible on a conference call. At the time of their decision, in late 2023, the effects of the drug were still conceptual, and Javier’s perspective was uncomplicated. He was “all in,” he said. Javier, who is also 53, regards himself as a “glass half full” kind of person, with a deep drive to be helpful to others and a steady support to his wife. “It never occurred to me to ask, Well, what does this mean for us?”
Jeanne took her first dose of Zepbound on March 7, 2024. Since then, she has lost 60 pounds; a recent liver scan showed no signs of disease. Jeanne now uses words like “life-changing” and “miraculous” to describe the results. But neither Jeanne nor Javier (who asked to use their middle names to protect their privacy) could have anticipated the upheaval her use of the medication would create in their 15-year marriage — a disruption that has not just radically changed her weight and her appetites but has also seemingly forced a total renegotiation of their marital terms. They are grappling, minute by minute, with a reconsideration of what they love about each other, how they feel when they look in the mirror, what turns them on. They haven’t had sex since she started Zepbound.
Javier comes across as bewildered by the changes in his wife. He is grieving, he says, the loss of the woman he married, starting with her physical self. “I used to love feeling her body, her big body, next to me in bed, the softness of it. The extra tummy and extra booty was comforting and reassuring,” he says. “I miss that. The voluptuousness, being able to lean up next to her and feel her, for lack of a better word, draping over me or onto me. That’s no longer an option.”
Before prescribing these drugs, responsible clinicians will advise patients of the well-known side effects — diarrhea, constipation, nausea, vomiting, headache — as well as the need for modifications in diet and exercise. They will explain the dosage schedule and may discuss cost. That, more or less, is where the professional guidance ends. But the effects of extreme weight loss on love relationships can be profound. The first and most substantive research related to the subject goes back to 2018, when a team of Swedish epidemiologists published a study of the impact of bariatric surgery on marriage. After surgery, they found, married couples were more likely than those in a control group to divorce or separate, whereas single people were more likely to marry. In couples, “there’s such a drive to keep things the same,” says Robyn Pashby, a clinical psychologist who specializes in issues related to weight loss or gain. “When one person changes, it changes the system. It does break that unspoken contract.”
Lisa Miller is a Times reporter who writes about the personal and cultural struggle to attain good health. More about Lisa Miller
Life in the USA by Magnolia Park & TX2
Life in the USA Lyrics [Verse 1: Joshua Roberts] Another shooting today Five wounded, three are dead Then those who stand up and say (Yeah), "We need to stop this" But they just talk a lot of shit and never solve it
[Chorus: Joshua Roberts] Life in the U.S.A (It's so great, it's so great) I love feeling unsafe (We're okay, we're okay) Gonna work 'til I die for a CEO Helping a life that I'll never know I need help, can't afford to go The American dream's just dying [Post-Chorus: Joshua Roberts] Slow, slow
[Verse 2: TX2 & Joshua Roberts] The system will keep you safe (Born in America, baby) As long as you're white and you're straight (Wait, wait, wait, I thought you just said that—) 'Cause some folks are still racist, I hate to say it But maybe DeSantis is gay (Wait, did he just say that? Hell yeah, brother)
[Chorus: Joshua Roberts & TX2] Life in the U.S.A (It's so great, it's so great) I love feeling unsafe (We're okay, we're okay) Gonna work 'til I die for a CEO Helping a life that I'll never know I need help, can't afford to go The American dream's just dying
[Post-Chorus: Joshua Roberts & TX2] Slow, slow
[Bridge: Joshua Roberts, TX2 & Both] We need more guns, we don't need healthcare Let's build a wall, we don't need welfare I just wanna line a rich guy's pockets, I want less action and a lot more talkin' Human rights are too political now (And we all say—) [Chorus: Joshua Roberts & TX2] Life in the U.S.A (It's so great, it's so great) I love feeling unsafe (We're okay, we're okay) Gonna work 'til I die for a CEO Helping a life that I'll never know I need help, can't afford to go The American dream's just dying
[Outro: Joshua Roberts] Slow, slow
USAID officials put on leave for allegedly not abiding by executive order
Just after 6 p.m. EST on Monday, the Trump administration placed a number of senior career officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on leave for allegedly not abiding by President Trump's executive order to freeze much of U.S. foreign aid.
NPR obtained a copy of a message sent to all USAID staff by acting administrator Jason Gray: "We have identified several actions within USAID that appear to be designed to circumvent the President's Executive Order and the mandate from the American people. As a result, we have placed a number of USAID employees on administrative leave with full pay and benefits until further notice while we complete our analysis of these actions."
The memo did not say how many people were placed on leave.
An agency staff member spoke about the memo to NPR on the condition of anonymity because of fears of retribution. "It's shocking," the individual said. "To my knowledge the stop-work order has been closely followed"
The staff member added that such an action by a new administration is unheard of.
Established in 1961, USAID provides assistance to strategically important countries and aims to alleviate poverty, disease, and humanitarian need as well as support economic growth. In fiscal year 2023, it had a budget of over $40 billion and a workforce of more than 10,000, with the majority working overseas.
On Inauguration Day, Trump ordered a 90-day pause in almost all foreign aid to give the administration a chance to ensure that it fits with its priorities. "The United States foreign aid industry and bureaucracy are not aligned with American interests and in many cases antithetical to American values," the executive order read.
Then on Friday, the State Department issued a "stop-work" order that surprised global health experts by stopping funds for not only future aid projects but also existing programs.
Over the weekend, USAID staff were told in an email by Ken Jackson, assistant to the administrator for management and resources, that the "pause on all foreign assistance means a complete halt" and that USAID staff should help ensure that aid work aligns with Trump's America First policy and that staff who to ignore these orders could be disciplined. NPR obtained a copy of the email.
"Failure to abide by this directive, or any of the directives sent out earlier this week and in the coming weeks, will result in disciplinary action. I will hold leaders accountable to ensure their employees adhere to these expectations," the email said. "We have a responsibility to support the President in achieving his vision. This will require each of us to be flexible, to work at a pace we may not be accustomed to, to challenge the basic assumptions surrounding foreign aid, and to make decisions that ensure the United States becomes safer, stronger, and more prosperous."