Guys, do you have health insurance? If so, Terri Carlson has a proposal for you.

The 45-year-old Vista divorcee, who has a debilitating genetic disorder, says she'll marry for health care coverage, as long as your co-pays aren't too heavy.

"There is no other health care option for me," Carlson, an Orange Glenn High School graduate, said by phone Friday evening. "I can never ever get health care insurance unless I marry. I am stuck in the middle. I can't get Social Security."

Carlson said her very public campaign (she created a Web site and YouTube videos about it this week) is driven by desperation and not a desire for personal attention. She said she's received "lifetime denials" from every health insurance company she can find and made countless appeals to state and national leaders.

Her proposal has garnered more than 5,000 e-mails from across the globe, all since Sunday, she said.

Many are from male suitors as far as Canada, England and Germany. But many others are from people who have experienced the same trials finding health care coverage, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed Carlson said.

As a stay-at-home mom for 24 years, Carlson said she never earned the required credits for Social Security payments to kick-in. Her four children, three sons and a daughter, are all grown and live in San Diego County.

Carlson works in customer service from her Shadow Ridge Country Club home but only part time. She said her disability, a deletion of C4 complement, prevents her from holding down a full-time job. The rare condition leads to frequent infections and severe pain, she said. She said she was hospitalized for a week last year following an infection.

Carlson said she has just over a year left on her federal COBRA health plan before she's kicked off. Her earnings barely cover that plan now, its co-payments and the 16 different medications she said she needs.

Brad Carlson, Terri's eldest son, said he was "shocked" when he first learned about his mom's proposal. But, he said, he's sticking by his mother.

"We're very proud of her," said Carlson, 26, of San Diego. "Somebody needs to bring this up."

Terri Carlson said she's working with friends to "weed through" the many suitors. She said she's a romantic and believes she will eventually find the right man and love, something she said she won't marry without.

She won't marry without receiving health coverage, either, she said.

Visit her Web site at www.willmarryforhealthinsurance.com.

Call staff writer Chris Nichols at 760-740-5426.