I was married in the Church at the age of 22 and we split up 18 years ago because I wanted children and he did not. I never thought about an annulment until I met a wonderful man 3 years ago who has now asked me to marry him. Is one parties refusal to have children grounds for an annulment? thank you.

-- Katherine Carlyon (kc_carlyon@billing.com), January 22, 2002

Answers

Katherine, I believe it is, as the in the Catholic faith, when you get married, you have to be open to God's gift of children. This is an extremely important aspect of marriage, so you have a very strong case that your marriage was never valid in the eyes of God.

Contact you local parish as soon as possible to start the process, as it can take a year or two, from what I understand.

God Bless

-- G Vink (gordonvink@bigfoot.com), January 22, 2002.