It seems like bliss ? a wedding, a child, a life with the man you love.

But then the dream turns into a nightmare as the first suspicions begin to dawn on you. He?s out all night, and he?s not with you. He shows no interest in you or your children.

He works 24-7, and the money disappears ? he contributes nothing towards household expenses or your child. He misses holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, all because he is working. But where does the money go?

Your husband is from another country. He came to Bermuda to make a better life for himself.

And now he can stay here. Permanently. Because he married you. has received calls from several women who believe the men they married lied to them in order to gain status in Bermuda in the wake of an article over the weekend where MPs discussed the issue of marriages of convenience in the House of Assembly.

Shadow Home Affairs Minister Maxwell Burgess called for Government to ?go on the attack? regarding such marriages.

?Government should make the fines so high they are able to take the money and plough it back into opportunities for employment for younger people going forward,? he said. However, if the court system is satisfied a couple is married for legitimate reasons, Government must ignore whatever gut feeling it has and ?a work permit should soon follow?, he said.

However, Home Affairs Minister Randy Horton said such marriages are not legally defined, and so no fine can be levied on them. That did not stop women who believe they are trapped in such marriages from warning others to be careful.

?I was stupid,? one woman, who asked not to be named, said bitterly. ?My marriage was a mistake. I cannot help but feel he married me for convenience. You can tell when you?re being used.?

She and her husband have been married for five years, she said, and they have a son. But she said: ?I?m going through hell, I?m not happy and I?m going to throw in the towel.?

Her husband, who is from Jamaica, shows all the signs of indifference listed above, she said. ?Ever since he came here he?s worked and worked and there?s never any money.

?Every time I ask him for help (with household expenses) he says he has no money. And everything?s in your name. The strain is all on me. I even paid for our entire wedding, right down to the rings.

?I have a friend who is the same way, I know of four women who feel they are trapped in the same situation.?

The woman said another woman married a man from Honduras several years ago.

?He gave her a few dollars a week,? she said. ?Then they had a daughter, and he tried to tell her the baby was not his, he beat her.? Later, she said, the woman discovered a collection of letters written in Spanish. She had them translated ? and discovered her husband already had a wife in Honduras.

He even had another daughter, whom he brought to Bermuda on a visit, passing her off as his niece. Not all such men are marrying just for convenience, the woman who contacted said. She knew of many men who came to Bermuda and truly love their wives and families. Stories like her own and the one of the woman who married the Honduran are enough to ruin the reputation of those men, however, she said. ?I am not saying they are all alike. I know lots of good people.

?But hey, I guess we got the wrong ones. t is happening here a lot lately.?

The women are now attempting to come together to form a support/lobbying group, she said.

?Immigration has to clamp down and start looking into it.?

She was aware that Immigration is already beginning to clamp down, she said, but more had to be done ? perhaps some sort of screening test, or at least checking in the country of origin to see if the person is married already. And it?s not just women who have to look out, she added ? men should be equally aware.

If a relationship reaches the point of marriage, people should know their spouses well enough to know if they are lying, she said. ?Immigration can?t tell us who to marry but if you knew what was in store for you, you wouldn?t do it. I was stupid ... I made a mistake.

?When you walk down that aisle there are two of you; when you walk back, there is one.

?I want to send a warning to other girls. I am sorry I did it.?