Less FW and AM marriages?

[matt]

  Are there less AM and Foreign women marriages happening? Are guys more interested in the search than the actual marriage? I have noted there are many agencies, especially in SA closing. Do you think less men will be marrying FW because of the difficulties?

[sharpbws]

Are there less AM and Foreign women marriages happening? Are guys more interested in the search than the actual marriage? I have noted there are many agencies, especially in SA closing. Do you think less men will be marrying FW because of the difficulties?

I think the answer is yes.  IMHO the basic reason for this is because of the improving economy in Russia.  Ladies there have more optimism about their future and are less anxious to trade their youth and beauty in exchange for a new life in the west.  One of the reasons Ukraine has become a more popular destination for American men in the last three years is because these economic improvements have not been so pronounced there.

If I were to recommend one course of action to a neophyte who is today just beginning this process it would be to concentrate on girls that have one or more children.  These women are basically unmarriagable in the eyes of most Russian men.  They just don't want to accept the financial responsibility of raising another man's child.  You can find some absolute knockout women in the 22-35 age group that have a child and can easily fall in love with a man who shows compassion and understanding toward her children.  In addition, these women will be more likely now to accept a wider age difference than some model-hot single and childless 22-35 deyv.

:-)
Brad   

[Manny]

If I were to recommend one course of action to a neophyte who is today just beginning this process it would be to concentrate on girls that have one or more children.  These women are basically unmarriagable in the eyes of most Russian men.  They just don't want to accept the financial responsibility of raising another man's child.  You can find some absolute knockout women in the 22-35 age group that have a child and can easily fall in love with a man who shows compassion and understanding toward her children.  In addition, these women will be more likely now to accept a wider age difference than some model-hot single 22-35 deyv.

I agree totally. If you seek an age gap this is the group to look in, especially in Russia.

[DonA]

I think the answer is yes.  IMHO the basic reason for this is because of the improving economy in Russia.  Ladies there have more optimism about their future and are less anxious to trade their youth and beauty in exchange for a new life in the west.  One of the reasons Ukraine has become a more popular destination for American men in the last three years is because these economic improvements have not been so pronounced there.

If I were to recommend one course of action to a neophyte who is today just beginning this process it would be to concentrate on girls that have one or more children.  These women are basically unmarriagable in the eyes of most Russian men.  They just don't want to accept the financial responsibility of raising another man's child.  You can find some absolute knockout women in the 22-35 age group that have a child and can easily fall in love with a man who shows compassion and understanding toward her children.  In addition, these women will be more likely now to accept a wider age difference than some model-hot single and childless 22-35 deyv.

:-)
Brad   

Brad,
I second that to a certain degree, but there are still many lovely young women who will marry a foreign man, but only for the love they feel. Nothing to do with passport or $.

I happen to know a whole bunch of women like that. They are fiends of my wife Yulia ( don't ask me for their info. I don't play match maker). These Ladies see how Happy my Yulia  is with me and how I treat Yulia like the rarest of flowers.


DonAz

[Bobalouie]

...but there are still many lovely young women who will marry a foreign man, but only for the love they feel. Nothing to do with passport or $...

DonAz

I second that, You beat me to it!!!

[Bobalouie]

I should probably add that out of the 4 the girls I met thru Amazingloves plus two more that I was not there to see and just met in passing, none of them were looking to escape from or leave Russia.  They were pretty happy with thier lives, and were at the agency to increase thier options of finding a suitable partner.

[Turboguy]

Just a few random thoughts I had on the subject with no real purpose of underlying theme.

I think the days of desperate women that were common in the FSU in the 1990's has passed.   It does reduce the pool but perhaps it increases the quality and motivation of those who are still writing to foreign men.

I don't follow the SA agency situation that Matt mentioned in his original post but some agency fall out is normal and perhaps fear of IMBRA has caused some to close.   I do think the honest, small agency has a tough road.   It is not a get rich thing and there will always be some fall out.   The big agency's seem to do fine.   In the 1920's there were automobile manufactures on every corner in the USA.   Three in Western PA and probably 750 or so around the country.  40 years later only the big three were left.  Someone could look at the decline in the number of automobile manufactures and conclude the auto industry had collapsed in the USA which was the opposite of what happened.

We get some bad press here over a few isolated high profile murders.  It lead to the rotten IMBRA laws.   We also get bad press in the FSU using the same cases as an example.   A program in Russia about a Cinderella story of a shop gal from Kazan who marries an American from S.F. and she has a wonderful happy life will put people to sleep.   One about some sicko who rapes, tortures and kills his poor innocent FSU wife will keep them on the edge of their seat and thanking their lucky stars they never considered marrying one of those sick AM.   Those TV programs are over there and they do portray what we do in a negative light and do scare some women away from what could be the best thing they ever did.

I have seen an estimate of 100,000 FSU women listed with agencies and on sites such as FP who are willing to meet a man from overseas.   I have a feeling from my fiancee's conversations with me and with her friends that it is only the tip of the iceberg as far as woman who would be happy to marry a foreign man.   I think there are lots who don't understand the internet, don't know much about agencies and just have not placed themselves with anyone but would love to follow that course.

My last point I will throw out is that I think Maslow's theories come into play in Russia to an extent.   When I made my first trips to Russia over a decade ago people were worried about survival.   Putting food on the table was a legitimate concern.   Even Russia's survival as a country was a big question mark in the world.   On my second trip the banking system in Russia had just collapsed and many had lost their life savings.  Chaos was everywhere.    Now, Russia is stable and starting to thrive financially(thanks to oil mostly).  Incomes have gone up but not as fast as the soaring real estate prices.   I think many in Russia are starting to think higher on the Maslow pyramid.

A Russian citizen sees his country as one with a corrupt government.  A government that is restrictive and motivated by bribes, red tape and greed.  Where doing even simple things can be difficult without greasing someone palm.   If they try to travel they are very limited.  (I am going through those hassles now with trying to spend time with my fiancee.   If they want a "better life" trying to upgrade their apartment is nearly impossible because of the high real estate prices.   I think they have a good reason to question the future there as well. 

Russia has a history of bad government.   Putin has engineered a big improvement in Russia's place in the world but he has also taken away some of the independence in the government and is a strict ruler.   Would anyone want to say it is impossible that another Stalin could not come into power there?   I am not intending this as a political debate but I think there are still causes for people from Russia to be concerned about the future and to seek a life elsewhere. 

[KenC]

  Are there less AM and Foreign women marriages happening? Are guys more interested in the search than the actual marriage? I have noted there are many agencies, especially in SA closing. Do you think less men will be marrying FW because of the difficulties?

Matt,
I think the days where all a man needed was a smile and a blue passport are gone forever.  A man today may actually have to romance a woman from the fsu in order to get her attention.  Which is a good thing in my mind.  With the improving economies over there and the prevalence of Internet access a lot of the mystique has been taken out of the picture for fsu women.  There are still many opportunities for men to meet fine women in the fsu, but they are going to need to work a little harder to obtain success now.  (I really wonder how many of those marriages were actually "successful" before when the motivations were dubious at best any way)
KenC

[windchimes]

Things have been steadily improving over there. That Maslows Hierarchy theory is interesting, and so are the responses.

I don't know if a better life was ever a primary reason for most of them.

Think of it this way: Many of us are from areas of the USA that are in the bottom 50 percent economically, yet we stayed in these places. They look bad on paper, but in reality there is something that keeps us here.  We manage to survive on an economy where wages are lower, but so are prices.  In the end family is why we tend to stay.
Put this on an international scale, and one may appreciate what an FSU woman sacrifices when she leaves her homeland, and perhaps why she leaves. It is humbling.