Editing Consummation (section)

==Legislation==

===Civil marriage===
The relevance of consummation in a [[civil marriage]] varies by jurisdiction. For example, under section 12 of the [[Matrimonial Causes Act 1973]], a refusal or inability to consummate a marriage is a ground of [[Annulment#Annulment in England and Wales|annulment in England and Wales]],<ref>[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1973/18?view=extent#section-12 Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (c. 18), s. 12] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180511201916/http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1973/18?view=extent |date=2018-05-11 }}</ref> but this only applies to heterosexual marriage because Paragraph 4 of schedule 4 of the [[Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013]] specifically excludes non-consummation as a ground for the annulment of a [[same-sex marriage]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2013/30/schedule/4/paragraph/4|title=Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315132422/http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2013/30/schedule/4/paragraph/4|archive-date=2016-03-15}}</ref> Other [[common law]] jurisdictions, such as [[Australia]], have abolished the legal concept of consummation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.familylawcourts.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/FLC/Home/Publications/Family+Court+of+Australia+publications/FCOA_Applying_decree_nullity |title=Archived copy |access-date=2017-12-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527114938/http://familylawcourts.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/FLC/Home/Publications/Family+Court+of+Australia+publications/FCOA_Applying_decree_nullity |archive-date=2015-05-27 }}</ref><ref>'''Note''': in Australia non-consummation as ground of annulment was abolished in 1975; see Dickey, A. (2007) ''Family Law'' (5th Ed) Also in 1975, Australia introduced no-fault divorce, so specific grounds of divorce such as adultery, cruelty, desertion, have all been abolished.{{cite web |url=http://www.familylawcourts.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/FLC/Home/Family+Law+Principles/No+fault+divorce/ |title=No fault divorce |access-date=2015-04-08 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150316232908/http://www.familylawcourts.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/FLC/Home/Family+Law+Principles/No+fault+divorce/ |archive-date=2015-03-16 }}</ref>

In some countries, such as [[Egypt]], [[Syria]],<ref>{{Citation | publisher = UNHCR | url = http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/topic,464db4f52,465161be2,3ae6ad796b,0.html | title = Syria: Social repercussions of a marriage between a male Druze and a Muslim woman | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121019190012/http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/topic,464db4f52,465161be2,3ae6ad796b,0.html | archive-date = 2012-10-19 }}</ref> [[Jordan]],<ref>{{Citation|url=http://jordan.usembassy.gov/acs_marriage_in_jordan2.html |title=Marriage in Jordan |publisher=Jordan embassy |place=USA |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006030656/http://jordan.usembassy.gov/acs_marriage_in_jordan2.html |archive-date=2011-10-06 }}</ref> the [[United Arab Emirates]],<ref>{{Citation | url = http://www.dubaifaqs.com/marriage-in-dubai.php | title = Marriage and weddings | publisher = Dubai, UAE FAQs | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110903010415/http://www.dubaifaqs.com/marriage-in-dubai.php | archive-date = 2011-09-03 }}</ref> [[Saudi Arabia]], [[Yemen]], [[Libya]], [[Mauritania]], and [[Indonesia]],<ref>{{Citation | url = http://bccvisalaw.com/marriage/marriage_in_indonesia.php | title = Marriage in Indonesia | publisher = BCC Visa Law | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111103042404/http://bccvisalaw.com/marriage/marriage_in_indonesia.php | archive-date = 2011-11-03 | access-date = 2015-04-08 }}</ref> religious marriage is the only legally binding marriage. In other countries, a religious marriage without civil registration may or may not be legally binding.

===Common law marriage===
{{Main article|Common-law marriage}}

In the case of common law marriage, consummation may be a required component in the creation of the marriage itself.{{citation needed|date=March 2019}}

===Religious marriage===
{{further|Marriage#Religion}}
According to traditional [[Christian theology|Christian theological interpretations]], "It is intended by God for the husband to be the one to break his wife's [[hymen]]", which when perforated during intercourse creates a [[Covenant (religion)#Christianity|blood covenant]] that seals the bond of [[Christian views on marriage|holy matrimony]] between husband and wife.<ref name="Gentry2021">{{cite book |last1=Gentry |first1=Harold |title=Intimacy |date=21 January 2021 |publisher=[[Thomas Nelson (publisher)|WestBow Press]] |isbn=978-1-6642-1232-9 |language=en}}</ref> Consummation is particularly relevant in a [[Marriage in  the Catholic Church|Catholic marriage]]. Within the [[Catholicism|Catholic Church]], if a matrimonial celebration takes place (ratification) but the spouses have not yet engaged in intercourse (consummation), then the marriage is said to be a marriage ''[[ratum sed non consummatum]]''. Such a marriage, regardless of the reason for non-consummation, can be dissolved by the [[pope]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P6R.HTM|title=Code of Canon Law - IntraText|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070105060902/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P6R.HTM|archive-date=2007-01-05}}</ref> Additionally, an inability or an intentional refusal to consummate the marriage is probable grounds for an [[Declaration of nullity|annulment]]. [[Canon law (Catholic Church)|Catholic canon law]] defines a marriage as consummated when the "spouses have performed between themselves in a human fashion a conjugal act which is suitable in itself for the procreation of offspring, to which marriage is ordered by its nature and by which the spouses become one flesh".<ref>canon 1061 §1</ref> Thus some theologians, such as [[John Hardon|Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.]], state that intercourse with [[contraception]] does not consummate a marriage.<ref name="pcd"/>