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 penetration (i.e., heterosexual), and some religious doctrines hold an additional requirement prohibiting contraception.[1] In this sense, "a marriage is consummated only if the conjugal act performed deposits semen in the vagina."[2]
The religious, cultural, or legal significance of consummation may arise from theories of marriage as having the purpose of producing legally recognized descendants of both partners, or of 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 annulled if it has 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 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.
- ^ Hardon, S.J., John (1985). "Consummated Marriage". Pocket Catholic Dictionary. Image Books. p. 91. ISBN 0-385-23238-1.
- ^ Arias, Joseph (August 2016). ""Validity" and "Liceity" in Conjugal Acts: A Reply to Stephen Napier on the HIV-Condom Debate". The Linacre Quarterly. 83 (3): 330–345. doi:10.1080/00243639.2016.1209401. PMC 5102196.