Dear Dr. Andrea,
I have a friend, a boyfriend, who I met two months ago on the Internet. I like him so much, and he likes me too. He is two years older than I am.

He studies computer engineering in the USA. I am from Kuwait, also studying computer engineering. We are in the same stage in our minds.

I found out that he was married more than four years ago and has children. When I learned the truth, I decided to cut this relationship between us. But now I feel I cannot continue life without him. What should I do?
-- Regrets

Dear Regrets,
If I understand your situation correctly, you have never met this man in person, but you have fallen in love with him through emails. It is unclear how old you are, but I suspect that you are college age from your reference to your studies.

I think that there are two major issues here. One is how you handled the news of your friend's prior marriage, and the other is your email romance. Let's talk about one at a time.

When you found out that he had been married before, you felt betrayed that he had not disclosed it to you before then. Did he tell you about the marriage or did you find out from another source?

If you found out from another source, I understand your anger. If you asked him about prior relationships and he lied about his marriage, I understand your anger. But if he voluntarily told you himself, then he did nothing wrong by choosing the time to share the information.

When you are just getting to know someone, it is proper NOT to share all your personal information until you determine how important, close, and trustworthy the other person is to you.

While you have every right to not get involved with a man who has children or even an ex-wife, I think you were harsh in judging him for not telling you about it sooner. I base this judgement on the newness of your relationship. If it had been a year-long relationship, I would think differently.