Finding an American husband, they say, might provide an escape from a life of poverty or danger or loneliness. No one blames people for seeking a better life. But critics say this business sometimes seems like just another form of human trafficking.

CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: One study of agencies that list women seeking husbands found there were around ten thousand "mail-order marriages" a year. About four thousand of these involved men from the United States.

Other husbands were Canadian, Australian, European and Japanese. The women were mostly Filipino or Russian, although there were listings of women from almost every country.

But these marriage numbers may be low. They are from a report published in nineteen ninety-seven when the Internet was still young.

FAITH LAPIDUS: Former Air Force officer David Knabel met his Russian wife through an international marriage brokerage. He says he was so happy, he later bought the company. The business is called A Volga Girl, based in Louisville, Kentucky. Mr. Knabel introduces Russian women to American men.

A picture from the website of A Volga Girl, an international marriage agency in the US

DAVID KNABEL: “Why a few, very low percentage of ladies from Russia that are interested in finding a foreign husband is because of the problem with the Russian men. There’s a huge contingent of Russian men that are alcoholics and womanizers and several of the ladies have gone through that and they just don’t want that kind of man for their husband."