Romantic love is a relatively new invention. We never used to believe in such a thing...

The idea of marrying 'for romantic love' is still something that strikes a fair chunk of the world as crazy...

The whole thing of 'love at first sight'... Before you know anything of their personality and their habits...

Maybe romantic love (and the 'and they lived happily ever after' fairytail ending) is... A fairytale. Maybe... It becomes a bit harder to credit as you get older...

Don't get me wrong there is an element of 'chemistry' or something like that when it comes to physical attraction. There is a little evidence that it is partly about genetic disparity (we sometimes don't find people who are very genetically similar to us to be romantically attractive - which helps prevent recessive genetic disorder). In other words... There is some evidence that there is a rationale for it...

But to base a relationship (rather than a sperm donation) on that?

For a lot of people in the world... It is about compatibility. Similar interests, similar background and culture, similar goals. Then making the decision to have a family together. Not many parents would force their children to marry against their wishes... But not many parents would be happy about them marrying solely for romantic love. Romantic love... Like most things... Can fade if you don't work on it / at it / give up.

I think maybe that is the biggest fairytale of all... That you don't have to work at relationships in order to keep them... Pleasant. And healthy.