CYBER ROMANCE

CYBER ROMANCE

Internet affairs have replaced

the office romance as a main cause of marriage break-ups.

Throughout World, a growing number of cyber cheats

are abandoning their spouses to pursue romances forged online.

Marriage counsellors say, they are seeing

more relationships shattered by secret

cyber love trysts than ever,

while lawyers report a rise in internet-related divorces.

Marriage counsellors say, they are seeing

more relationships shattered by secretcy

ber love trysts than ever,

while lawyers report a rise in internet-related divorces

Half of the people who find romance

on the internet are already in a relationship at the time,

with some making multiple connections.

a lawyer with more than 30 years' experience,

says he has seen dozens of marriage

break-ups caused by internet affairs.

"All too often, it's more of a common cause

than office relationships used to be.

It's becoming more and more popular,"

"I had a situation the other day where my friend,

allegedly while his marriage was breaking down,

decided to advertise himself online

as being single with no children,

and somehow his wife sprung him.

"But that's only part of the problem

from a matrimonial perspective.

We've had situations where one party

has found true love on the internet

and wants to go and live overseas or interstate

taking with them the children,

and that's a further complication.

"Love Online website,

interviewed more than 1000 people about

their online habits and found that half of those

who had found romance online

were in a relationship at the time.

Family law specialist who runs her own practice,

says internet affairs can break up an already

unhappy marriage but they also have a darker side.

"It can be anything from somebody putting

a big toe in the water outside the marriage

to see if the grass is in fact greener on the other side,

to quite explicit nasty sexual practices with

cameras on computers while their beloved

is tucked up in bed in the room next door,"

she says.

"But often when they meet someone on the internet,

the marriage is already dead anyway."

We have seen many marriages end

because of internet romances.

"Over the past five years,

it's been an increasing presentation for us,"

she says. "Many of these people are in very happy

relationships but they meet someone online,

they think it's just a chat room,

just a friendship, and it gradually develops

into something that becomes an affair and a betrayal."

"The ones that are most difficult and

that have caused the most problems

are when they're in a relationship with

somebody in America or in same town, and then

next down the line is interstate or neighbors problems."