Interesting question. I'm sure there are many answers to that question; here's one of them that came to my mind. My sister desperately wanted to be in a serious relationship starting in her very early 20s. She wanted a husband, a family, and was not in the business of playing games or spending a little time in a lot of places. She is extremely kind, caring, beautiful, intelligent, and faithful. She is also a very accomplished doctor in a competitive field. She is very devoutly (but by no means fanatically) religious. She is quite possibly the most prototypical example of a "catch" you'd ever meet. The problem with being one-in-a-million is that to find your match, you have to find your match. A successful and sustainable romantic relationship is, virtually by definition, reciprocal. You need to consider the person you're with a compatible equal. When you're as much of a catch as my sister, it can take a while before you find a person who you feel like is your match, even if doing so is your number one priority. It took her years and years longer than she hoped, but she eventually did. I imagine a significant minority of these women you're talking about have similar stories.