My Wife Deceived My Before Our Marriage. She Has No Womb and Cannot Get Pregnant. Can I Remarry?
1) Direct Answer
No. Childlessness or being deceived about fertility does not free you to remarry while your wife is living. Your covenant stands. If you cannot dwell together in peace, you may separate, but you must remain unmarried or be reconciled.
2) Scriptural Explanation
- Jesus said, “What God hath joined together, let not man put asunder… whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery” (Matthew 19:6,9). Infertility is not fornication.
- “The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth” (1 Corinthians 7:39; see also Romans 7:2-3; 1 Corinthians 7:10-11). If separated, remain unmarried or be reconciled.
- God hates putting away (Malachi 2:14-16). He calls marriage “the wife of thy covenant.”
- Deception does not dissolve a marriage covenant by itself. Jacob was deceived with Leah, yet kept her as his wife (Genesis 29:23-28).
3) Simple Clarifying Logic
- Children are a blessing, but they are not the basis of the marriage covenant; vows are “for better, for worse,” not “until children come.”
- Deception is sin and must be confessed, but Scripture only grants the exception of “fornication” for putting away. Medical infertility is not fornication.
- Taking another wife would be adultery, not a solution. The church does not authorize adding a wife; that is not the order of the New Testament.
- If an unbelieving spouse departs, the believer is “not under bondage” to chase them (1 Corinthians 7:15), but that is not your case, and even then, does not license remarriage while the unbelieving spouse lives.
4) Reinforcing Counsel
Now notice, the path of a Christian is forgiveness, honesty, and faith. Have her confess the deception; forgive from the heart; seek the Lord together. Pray—God is able to open and close the womb, and nothing is too hard for Him. If He leads otherwise, consider adoption. Walk clean, keep your vows, and let the Holy Spirit fill the home with love instead of bitterness. Where in the Bible does it say childlessness frees a man to remarry? Nowhere. But it does say, “Let not man put asunder.”