Finding Love in Russia and Around the World

Many American men are beginning to question their desire to settle down with "the girl next door," especially since that girl is often resistant to the idea of settling down at all! While more and more women in the United States choose to postpone marriage and children in favor of their careers, more and more marrying men have started looking elsewhere to meet their mates. Are Russian marriage agencies the answer for unlucky-in-love Americans?

Online dating sites for men and the committment-seeking women they hope to meet are no recent phenomenon, but one cannot help but question their motives: are these services doing little more than selling mail-order brides?

Numerous marriage agency scams have given these dating sites a bad name, exposing financially motivated men who were trafficking in Russian women, as well as women who were seeking nothing more than money and a green card. Even American men have been villified by the media for using Russian brides for sex and then thoughtlessly abandoning them in the United States or sending them back to their homeland in shame. Yet many men and Russian women claim that they have formed terrific and lasting partnerships thanks to the specific dating services that matched them up.

Having known men and women who participated in arranged marriages that developed into loving relationships, I can't discount the idea of Russian brides seeking american men altogether. From a purely practical perspective, all these marriage agencies are doing is matching women who want to move to America and start their families with men who want to marry and have children. I can see how - given proper time and evaluation - a Russian dating service could be the best possible option for both partners.

However, I fear that there could be more serious issues at hand. I would wonder why a man could not find a compatible lover in his own country; does he have some severe personality flaw that would cause American women to turn him away? I would also be concerned about the Russian woman's intentions for her American suitor; will she divorce him as soon as she becomes a citizen of the United States?

I suppose the bottom line is that the issue of marriage agencies is not merely black and white but instead many shades of gray. While some men and women will be disappointed in their results, others will go on to find the loves of their lives on a site like Loversplanet.com. The caveat of any online dating experience rings true again and again: proceed, with caution.