Transatlantic Love Online

Eight years ago, having finally removed my very unpleasant, alcoholic first husband from my life, I found myself in the somewhat degrading position of being a single mother to two little boys. Perhaps degrading is a strange choice of words, but I had been brought up as a catholic, to respect the sanctity of marriage, to not have children "out of wedlock."

Perhaps more telling, I lived at the time in an area in London where teenagers were deliberately getting pregnant and having babies, and groups of young, single mothers strolled through town, pushing strollers with one hand, while holding a cigarette in the other.

I was better than this. I had a good education, a career as an RN, and had followed all the "traditional" paths to a family: boyfriend, marriage, babies.

And yet, here I was, a single mother, unable to work because I was looking after the children, and yet too proud to apply for benefits. I ploughed through my savings, or rather what was left of them after my ex-husband had drunk them away.

My social life also became non-existent, none of my family was close by, and my ex had not been in touch since the day he left.

So I turned to the Internet for company. I began visiting chat rooms, talking to faceless strangers with the use of a keyboard and monitor. I quickly became a target for young men desperate for a visa out of their home countries–India, Turkey, Greece, Russia. The lines were always the same–"Hi, my name is so-and-so. Do you have a picture? I think I’m in love with you. Do you want to get married and I’ll come and live with you."

They never even attempted to be subtle, and I was never tempted by any of their cheesy lines.