Editing Consummation (section)

{{short description|First sex act as part of a marriage or relationship}}
{{about|the consummation of marriages}}
[[File:52-aspetti di vita quotidiana, amore,Taccuino Sanitatis, Cas.jpg|thumb|240px|Illustration from ''[[Tacuinum Sanitatis]]'', a medieval handbook by [[Ibn Butlan]] on health and wellness]]
The '''consummation of a marriage''', or simply '''consummation''', is the first officially credited act of [[sexual intercourse]] following [[marriage]]. In many traditions and statutes of civil or religious law, the definition usually refers to [[Penile-vaginal intercourse|penile–vaginal penetration]] (i.e., [[Heterosexuality|heterosexual]]), and some religious doctrines hold an additional requirement prohibiting [[Birth control|contraception]].<ref name="pcd">{{cite book | last=Hardon, S.J. | first=John | author-link=John Hardon | isbn=0-385-23238-1 | title=Pocket Catholic Dictionary | year=1985 | page=91 | publisher=Image Books | contribution=Consummated Marriage}}</ref> In this sense, "a marriage is consummated only if the conjugal act performed deposits [[semen]] in the [[vagina]]."<ref name="Arias2016">{{cite journal |last1=Arias |first1=Joseph |title="Validity" and "Liceity" in Conjugal Acts: A Reply to Stephen Napier on the HIV-Condom Debate |journal=The Linacre Quarterly |date=August 2016 |volume=83 |issue=3 |pages=330–345 |doi=10.1080/00243639.2016.1209401|pmid=27833210 |pmc=5102196 }}</ref>

The religious, cultural, or legal significance of consummation may arise from theories of marriage as having the purpose of [[Human reproduction|producing]] legally recognized [[Lineal descendant|descendants]] of both [[Intimate partner|partners]], or of [[Legitimacy (family law)|providing sanction]] to their [[sexual acts]] together, or both, and its absence may amount to treating a ''[[marriage ceremony]]'' as falling short of ''completing'' the state of being married, or as creating a marriage which may later be repudiated. Thus, in some legal systems, a marriage may be [[Annulment|annulled]] if it has [[Sexless marriage|not been consummated]]. Consummation is also relevant in the case of a [[common-law marriage]]. The historical importance of consummation has resulted in the development of various [[Bedding ceremony|bedding rituals]].

In addition to these formal and literal usages, the term also exists in informal and less precise usage to refer to a sexual landmark in relationships of varying intensity and duration.