Many of D.C.'s COVID marriages are now ending

• And for many, that meant racing to settle down with someone with whom they could feel safe and stable during a scary time.

State of play: Some couples who met during the pressure cooker of COVID and quickly got married are now separating.

• Many met online at the pandemic's start, moved to Zoom dates, graduated to a masked date outside, then found themselves quarantining and moving in together 60 or 90 days later.
• That is, things got serious fast, DMV divorce lawyer Cheryl New tells Axios.

From there: Cue the small COVID wedding ceremonies.

• Because these marriages took place inside the pandemic bubble, many couples hadn't spent much time with family or friends, or seen how their partners interacted with the world — all things that speak to someone's values and beliefs.
• And now, a few years post-COVID, some are realizing they didn't marry the person they thought they did.

What they're saying: "What I'm hearing are consistent patterns of incompatibility, failure to communicate, non-shared goals and values, which I think could have been more fleshed out if they were living outside in the real world [when they met]," says Washington divorce lawyer Maria Simon, who sees these types of breakups frequently.

• "They met in a complete bubble," New says of these "fairy-tale romances."

Zoom in: Among the real-world realizations, one of New's COVID marriage clients discovered her partner had a horrible relationship with their family.

• Another realized they'd married the kind of person who treats waitstaff horribly.

The intrigue: Simon has long helped couples end short marriages — which she defines as two to three years. But what's unusual about most of these pandemic couples, she says, is that they also quickly had a kid.

• Many couples were in their 30s or early 40s and were already eager to start a family. So when the world shut down and sped up the settling down process, they decided to go for it.
• "[They thought,] 'Oh, my gosh, I might be missing out on what I've wanted my whole life,' which is to have a family and get married and have kids," says New. "[So they made] some decisions that they would not have otherwise made had they not felt this pressure."

Reality check: Overall, marriage rates took a dive during COVID, though they've risen in recent years.

• And divorce numbers have been declining overall across the past two decades.

What we're watching: Simon says she thinks we've hit the peak of the short-term dissolution of COVID marriages.

• But she tells us to check back in a couple of years — once the remaining pandemic couples have had another kid.