Cherry Blossoms
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- This is an article about a company. For other uses, see Cherry Blossom (disambiguation).
| Cherry Blossoms | |
|---|---|
| Type | International marriage agency |
| Founded | 1974 |
| Headquarters | Hawaii, USA |
| Key people | Bob Burrows, President[1] |
| Website | http://www.blossoms.com |
Cherry Blossoms is one of the oldest and largest international marriage agencies still in operation today. It was established in 1974 as a picture catalog, but has now switched entirely to a web-based format.
Contents |
[edit] Statistics
The site claims that there have been more than 100,000 matches through the service[2]. According to a USCIS-funded study, approximately 6,000 women are listed on the website at any given time[3]. However, according to a company rep, the site has "over 35,000 women from 108 countries"[4]. Bob Burrows, president of Cherry Blossoms, reports that his agency serves over 1,000 men per month who pay up to $200 each[5].
[edit] Controversy
Cherry Blossoms is often mentioned in news articles about the mail order bride industry. There have been several prominent cases of abuse and murder involving couples who met via Cherry Blossoms, including the case of Jack Reeves, who was convicted of murdering his wife Emelita; the case became the subject of a 1999 book called Mail Order Murder[6]. But Burrows has defended the industry, saying that divorce proceedings could end the abuse of wives, even if the marriage grew out of a mail-order service[7].
[edit] References
- ^ Mail-Order Marriage, Immigrant Dreams and Death, Timothy Egan, New York Times, May 26, 1996
- ^ About us, Cherry Blossoms.
- ^ The "Mail-Order Bride" Industry and its Impact on U.S. Immigration, Robert J. Scholes.
- ^ Correspondence Services, ASAWA.
- ^ The Mail Order Bride Industry and its Impact on U.S. Immigration, Robert J. Scholes, PhD with the assistance of Anchalee Phataralaoha, MA.
- ^ I Wish They All Could Be Mail-Order Girls, Keli Dailey, San Antonio Current, August 2, 2006.
- ^ Unhappily ever after, Timothy Egan, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, May 26, 1996.
