Websites and support groups help Indian cancer survivors find partners
Cancer survivors can rarely find partners in India, but websites and support groups are helping to pair lonely hearts, writes Amrit Dhillon
Binoo George, 33, was diagnosed with lymphoma six years ago and is now in remission. With the illness behind him, his older brother, Balaji, worries that Binoo doesn't have a partner, children, emotional intimacy or a typical family life.
Over the past four years, Balaji has searched their home of Kochi in the state of Kerala, trying to arrange a marriage for his brother.
"The moment any prospective family hears about the cancer, they vanish. But in India, there is no alternative to arranged marriages. You have to get married to have a partner. This is not like foreign countries where you can find someone yourself and go around without marrying," says Balaji.
The moment any prospective family hears about the cancer, they vanish
When he heard about a new marriage website set up by the youth wing of St Mary's Orthodox Parish Church in Kerala last month, his heart soared with fresh hope. He registered Binoo at once.
"I haven't told him, though. I don't want to get his hopes up until I have found someone who might work out," he says.
"The stigma of cancer is still there. People fear a recurrence, the medical expenses. They are scared the children will have a greater chance of getting cancer."