By Tolula Dada 

Loneliness is quite possibly the most pathetic word in the English language, or at least in the emotional lexicon. Why? Because it prompts people to attempt to fufill their dreams of “love” in the most unlikely places: seedy bars, street corners, and of course, the internet.

Enter ‘mail order brides’ into a search engine and you'll receive close to two million hits, many of which are websites publicizing the wishes of women to marry men from Western nations such as the UK, America, Canada, Germany and Australia. One popular site, Anastasia International, prides itself on outstanding service in helping Westerners meet Russian women possessing “femininity, beauty, [an] open heart for feelings, extreme devotion to children and family-orientation”.

However, with the cost of a mail order bride ranging from $4,000 to $15,000 (with some brides known to exceed $40,000) one must question whether the bride’s family orientation refers to her desire to start a family or to support her existing one. Especially when the majority of mail-order brides hail from economically developing countries such as Russia, Ukraine, and, increasingly, from Latin America and Asia, where such sums exceed the average annual wage many times over.

It can be argued that such matrimonial unions leave women open to exploitation, given that they become strangers in a foreign country where they do not know their rights or speak the language. In some cases, the marriage is a farce from the beginning, and the women are actually sold into slavery. But let's not forget that men involved in legitimate male-order marriages risk thousands of dollars purchasing spouses who could potentially ‘take the money and run’.

Although this appears to be a somewhat dubious approach to marital bliss, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reports that marriages arranged through online services have a much lower divorce rate than the national average. Furthermore, the decision to advertise as a mail order bride is not always born out of financial necessity. In Russia for instance, where women outnumber men 2:1, high rates of male alcoholism, and strict visa controls mean that online services offer a better way for Russian women to meet eligible men and obtain legitimate means to emigrate.

Surely then, it would be more rational for a successful, attractive Russian woman to seek out a mail order husband? Well, enter ‘mail order husbands’ into an internet search engine and you will find a comparatively measly half-million results... perhaps Meatloaf put it best when he sang: “I would do anything for love, but I won’t do that”!

www.mailorderhusbands.net/order

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