You've been set up, maybe stood up and finally fed up with the whole dating process. The biggest holiday of the year for love and romance is looming, and your pot is still missing a lid. You are not alone, but if you've rejected the personals as desperate and thought dating sites like eHarmony.com and Match.com were just more of the same, then you may be alone. More and more eligible singles are using Internet sites rather than relying on friends, family and fate to find them a mate.

As the idea has grown so have the possibilities. If you know what you want in a partner, there are plenty of highly specialized matchmaking sites, and many of them are free.

Almost every religion and race have dating sites: Blacksingles.com, Catholicmatch.com, Serbmatch.com, Indiasingles.com, Equallyyoked.com for Christian singles, and Jdate.com for Jewish singles. But it gets even more specialized, with sites for everyone from geeks to firefighters.

Then there's the infamous Beautifulpeople.com, known for kicking off members who have gained weight, and the scurrilous Ashleymadison.com, a dating service for married people seeking an affair. The owner of the site has appeared on several television shows pointing out that he doesn't make people cheat, his site just brings cheaters together.

Sexual orientation is not a game changer, either, with more and more sites catering to gays, lesbians, bi and transgendered people. So whether it's baby boomers or boy toys you are after, the search could be just a click away.

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, close to 68 percent of Americans are overweight. That explains the abundance of dating sites for overweight people, many of which take a proud stance on being a large size. Some of the specialty sites we found for overweight singles also include BBPeopleMeet.com, ChubbyPersonals.org, OverweightSoulmate.com and fatisbeautiful.com. Kind of takes the pressure off when someone loves you "just the way you are."

"The only place to meet a firefighter without dialing 911." This sizzling site is free to join, but like all the dating sites you must be at least 18 years old.

Christian Singles can meet other like-minded people. Unlike other sites Equally Yoked also has centers, including one in the Pittsburgh area (call 412-380-2500). This social club for singles claims thousands of members with a goal to positively impact each other spiritually, emotionally and socially.

Calculators welcome. The site lists 10 top reasons geeks make great companions and among them are "Geeks don't cheat (their social skills are not well developed enough to support an affair), Geeks have imagination, Geeks are happy and successful in their chosen fields." They admit they do not do any background checks on their users.

Don't go it alone; sign up with a group of your friends and meet up with another group. This is major mingling with moral support. It's all free and was designed under the premise that love is not a formula that can be applied. It something you discover.

For the disabled and those who love them. There is a free trial period and four different types of matches including soulmatch (characteristics), sensualmatch (similar libidos), starmatch (astrology) and selectmatch (interests and pastimes). These are combined to find your Supermatch. The site indicates they can't do complete background checks on everyone. So be aware.

Here you engage in free webcam chats and can be specific about location and race. It's a form of the old speed dating model where you meet several people in a short period of time. It saves a wasted evening of polite chatter when you knew in the first five minutes this bud's not for you.

"Discover the magic of chemistry with genetic match making." Don't rely on your failed instincts; get matched via your immune system. Send your DNA via a cotton swab of saliva and soon you'll be sending roses and creating a master race. Among the benefits listed are higher rates of fertility and healthier children with more robust immune systems. (You are bound to love the "natural body fragrance" of your match.) It costs $1,995.95 for a lifetime.

This site has a free test you can take to find your type and who you should be looking for on the site. For example "Window Shoppers" go best with" Lover Boys" or "Gentlemen" but should avoid "Hornivores" at all cost.

Doug Oster writes a blog, "Growing With Doug," exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.