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After World War II, there was a period during which many thousands of foreign women married military personnel from the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada - and the term, "war bride" found its way into the lexicon. In more recent times, we have the phenomenon of men from the same countries that provided the so-called war brides and men from the countries that received the brides now fishing in different waters, mostly the republics of the former Soviet Union.
In Ukraine, the numbers of men visiting with the purpose of finding mates has reached the flood stage and become a highly organized - and reputedly very profitable business. However, as is revealed in this month's cover story, many of the pairings that come out of these visits turn out well - and more than a few do not. And that led us to this month's question.
We asked this month's Board of Drinkers:
"Do you think that Ukraine should regulate introduction services to protect Ukrainian women seeking marriage with foreigners?"
 Yes, but how? Women deserve the right to know who their potential partners (for life) are in terms of protecting themselves from harm. That is, require the agencies to conduct background checks via any of the multitude of available firms in the man's country of origin (easily done over the Internet) so that the women are aware of their mate's prior offenses. The women deserve this knowledge prior to embarking to a new land unknown to them, let alone their newly found love's past.
Mark Rachkevych,
Technical Consultant;
In fourth year in Ukraine
 No. Otherwise it will go underground, making it worse, I guess, but I don't know much about it. One man can't fight market forces, not even one government! Perhaps, like cigarettes, ads should carry a "health"warning.
David Lee,
Self-employed;
In Ukraine 14 years
 I think the government should stay at an arms length away from this, but these services must find a way to regulate themselves. I think Ukrainian women should be cautious and do their due diligence, but at the same time I think that agencies must also go through some ground work to ensure that the men women are introduced to have some moral fiber. At the current time, as far as I know, a woman has no guarantee that the man she is introduced to has not been married before and is divorced as a result of family violence or abuse. However, this also holds true if introduction services are not in the picture. This is also a double-edged sword. There are plenty of stories of women from this part of the world who seem like angels, but once in the country of their chosen "loved one" they become that man's worst nightmare, taking him for everything he has, monetarily and emotionally. Nevertheless, there are plenty of positive stories with fairytale endings.
Bill Pawlowsky
Self-employed
In Ukraine seven years and five months
 I do not see the benefit of regulating these services because whichever country one lives in, both spouses are accountable to the law of that state and statistics show that most of these women move and live abroad after they get married.
Desmond Reid,
General Manager of O'Brien's Pub
In Ukraine for a total of four years
 In general, no! There is a problem with Ukrainian women being lured abroad and forced into prostitution. But marriage is a very private affair and the involvement of bureaucracy will only add a complication and an increase in potential corrupt practices.
Bob Mulligan,
Consultant; In Ukraine 3 days
 Since some of the "introduction services" are rather "iffy," some oversight is needed. Perhaps these agencies should form a business association themselves, come up with ethical rules, etc. I'd hate to see the government get into regulating them; the government has a hard time regulating itself.
Roman Schwed,
Architect/Radio Host; In Ukraine 12 years.
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