Meeting Online | Singles with STDs

Dating is hard for most people, but finding a date in a responsible way when you have an STD is even harder.

James Kassemi  and Bentley Dawson  have started an online dating site for people with STDs. The site, matchstd.com, pairs people with similar diseases to others with the same type of disease. The site tells potential members that "you will not be matched with an individual who has an STD that you don't." It services those with incurable venereal diseases like herpes, genital warts and HIV and is available around the world.

One of the most important features of the site is that it offers an anonymous way for people with STDs to meet. Members do not have to provide an e-mail address and can instead use the internal messaging system to communicate with other members and can choose not to post a picture. And, only members are allowed to browse profiles and see photos.

Everything was going at a nice, slow pace until CNN aired a story about it .   The matchstd.com website has been inundated with inquiries and new memberships since then. Prior to the media story, the site had about 150 members  -- a couple days after the news story, they had 2,709 clients.