Have diabetes? Get married

An NGO has come up with a website that aims to provide matrimonial services and awareness to people affected by the disease

Have diabetes? Get married

An NGO has come up with a website that aims to provide matrimonial services and awareness to people affected by the disease

Even a chronic disease like diabetes needn't stop you from spending a normal life. But most impaired persons know that discrimination is almost inevitable.

Meet your match here: A screenshot of the website diabeticmatrimony.com

Kavita Sharma faced it twice while looking for her soulmate.u00a0Kavita, a 27-year-old management graduate who is working with a reputed firm has been a diabetic for the past five years. Just a year ago, her family started looking for a perfect groom for their daughter. They went to various matrimonial websites to find a match for her.

"In 2008, my parents visited various matrimonial websites. The family members of the boy were very apprehensive when they came to know that I am suffering from diabetes. They asked me weird questions like whether I will be able to produce children or not. I was really shattered by such queries," said a sad and emotional Kavita.

Right click
But still she did not lose hope. One day, she came to know about a website called www.diabeticmatrimony.com that has been created with the idea to provide services of matrimony, awareness about diabetes and a lot of other things for people who suffer from the disease.

"First, even I was scared of all these matrimonial sites. I used to think how would judge a person on the Net? But when I applied on the site, it proved to be useful. Luckily I found someone special," said Kavita who is now happily married. The website has been started by Delhi Diabetic Research Centre (DDRC), an NGO, for providing services to diabetes patients. It was started three years ago but only now people have started becoming more aware about it.

"Diabetic Matrimony is a unique website which helps people suffering from Diabetes Type 1 and 2 find a suitable match for them. More than 500 people have been registered on the website," said Dr AK Jhingan, Chairperson, DDRC and founder of the website.

Unhappily married
A survey conducted on marriage-related problems among diabetics carried out by DDRC among 2,000 people in age group 19 to 31 revealed that finding a suitable life partner is among the most common concerns for a diabetic. Not only does a Type I diabetic patient find it difficult to be accepted as a life partner but more than 90 per cent of those who were married faced problems in their marital life. Confrontation, separation and divorce were common among them.

"It was shocking to see that the survey revealed that of the married women who were Type I diabetic, nearly 50 per cent were sent back to their parental home within a year of marriage. Nearly, 25 per cent of the diabetic married women lost interest in taking care of themselves due to lack of financial assistance from their husbands," added Dr Jhingan.

Fears unfounded
"There is a fear that diabetes-affected persons cannot have normal and healthy children. In fact, more often than not, diabetic men chose to remain silent about their disease before entering matrimony," said Dr Jhingan.
The problem exists with the males too who are suffering from diabetes. But many of them have mentally prepared themselves before looking for their perfect match.u00a0

"Before looking for my life partner, I was mentally prepared to get rejections. But, when I get to know about the website, I thought of giving it a last try. And finally I got my life partner," said Dhiraj Arora, a 29-year-old businessman.

Know this ?
There are three main types of diabetes:
*u00a0Type 1 diabetes: results from the body's failure to produce insulin, and presently requires the person to inject insulin. (Also referred to as insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, IDDM for short, and juvenile diabetes.)
* Type 2 diabetes: results from insulin resistance, a condition in which cells fail to use insulin properly, sometimes combined with an absolute insulin deficiency. (Formerly referred to as non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, NIDDM for short, and adult-onset diabetes.)
* Gestational diabetes: is when pregnant women, who have never had diabetes before, have a high blood glucose level during pregnancy. It may precede development of type 2 DM.u00a0