Many young people of marriageable age are increasingly opting to marry later in life, driven by career aspirations or the challenges of finding the right partner.
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In Vietnam, dozens of social media groups have emerged, offering paid partner services. A forum administrator with over 20,000 members has noted a recent surge in women renting boyfriends to appease their parents.
Minh Thu, a 30-year-old from Nam Dinh province in northern Vietnam, has not dated in five years due to her demanding job. Her parents informed her that she could only return home for the Lunar New Year if she had a boyfriend, expressing their desire for grandchildren and even pretending to be ill to heighten the pressure on her.
Earlier this year, Thu spent a few million Vietnamese dong (a few hundred US dollars) to hire a man, five years her senior, to pose as her boyfriend, as reported by the Vietnamese media outlet VnExpress.
They exchanged family backgrounds and established an “emotional connection” a week in advance.
The man, a construction engineer, is skilled in cooking and knowledgeable about wine tasting.