Cyber romances totter in real world

You see them in awkward first embraces in airport international arrival halls: The would-be couples who met on the Internet, fell in love in cyberspace and are meeting for the first time in the real world.

When all goes well with these Web-based romances, and the couple take the plunge and decide to live together, the upheaval can be immense. Not just new towns but new countries, new languages, new religions and new passports.

And what goes for the adults goes extra for kids. If there are children from previous marriages they might be made to shift continents and leave most of their past and friends behind and become separated from a former mom or dad by any number of time zones.