50-plus crowd among fastest-growing group of Web daters

DETROIT — Jerry Reiser married his high school sweetheart. But that ended after 14 years. A softball umpire introduced him to his second wife. That, too, ended in divorce. Then two years ago, Reiser — now 58 — decided he wanted another long-term relationship — but found singles dances weren't cutting it. He turned to online dating. Reiser quickly received more than 70 matches. He dated a handful of women from the online roster, but only one stood out — Debbie Kuzma. More than a year and a half after the two met, they were married.

"We're on the same page mentally, physically," Jerry Reiser said. "Everything is perfect."

The Reisers, who live in Clinton, Mich., southwest of Ann Arbor, are among a growing number of older people who are looking for or have found love on the Web.

Online dating companies like eHarmony.com, Match.com and lavalife.com have seen significant growth in the number of users age 50 and up in recent years. Joe Tracy, publisher of Online Dating Magazine, says that "the 50-plus segment in the online dating world is the fastest growing."

Experts say the growth is multifaceted: Older people are using the Internet more; they have a harder time finding companions in social settings like bars, or at work; they are being pushed to the Web by adult children, and they are looking for a different way to find compatible matches.

"They are not necessarily looking for just casual dates or the next big romance," said LavalifePRIME Vice President Lally Rementilla. "They're looking more for companionship."

For example, eHarmony saw a 20 percent growth in users ages 60 and older during the first quarter of 2009, compared with the same period in 2008.

"If you're 45, 55, 60, it's probably been a really long time since you've been dating," said Dr. Gian Gonzaga, senior research scientist for eHarmony Labs. "So all of the traditional routes to finding potential partners have been cut off."

In the case of Milford residents Cheryl and Larry Bond, the Internet paid off. The couple married in January, roughly two years after they met online.

It was a meeting that almost didn't happen.

Cheryl Bond, 54, a divorcee with adult children, hadn't dated in six years when she decided to take her search online. Not able to find men at work or at social events, she signed up for eHarmony. But Bond found the lengthy questionnaire laborious; she toiled over the decision, worrying what coworkers would think and scared of the people she would meet.