Although a variety of lifestyles are acknowledged and accepted in the United States today, the overwhelming majority of individuals seek the goal of a lifelong, committed, heterosexual relationship that marriage offers. What then prevents some individuals from achieving their ideal? This paper reports on research that investigated the association between internalized object relations and involuntary singleness in American women. The findings draw on the conscious memories and experiences of a purposive, nonclinical sample of 26 never-married women who participated in a qualitative research project.