In most Indian families, as soon as marriage takes place, pressure is put on the husband and wife to have children. Many times, due to not having children, tension starts arising between husband and wife. Sometimes this matter reaches the point of divorce. Its biggest victims are women. Actually, the mentality of Indians in this matter is to blame women. Even if, based on the medical report, the reason behind all this is a man, the blame for it is easily put on women.
Now, while hearing one such divorce case, Patna High Court has clearly said that mere absence of children cannot be a legal basis for divorce. The court said that the wife has not done any kind of cruelty to the husband. If there is no cheating, or if the case is not made out on any valid basis as mentioned in the Hindu Marriage Act, then the decision of divorce cannot be given on the basis of having children.
The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 provides several grounds for divorce, such as cruelty, adultery, desertion, mental illness, religious conversion, incurable infectious disease (some provisions have been amended), and lack of knowledge of survival for seven years. But nowhere is there any mention of divorce on the grounds of not having children.
However, if the husband or wife proves that the other party was aware of his impotence at the time of marriage. A normal marital relationship was not possible, so this could definitely become a legal issue. But not having children in itself cannot be a ground for divorce. There is no such provision in the law.
The research, published on the National Library of Medicine portal using data from NFHS-5 (2019-21), found the rate of early infertility among women married for at least five years was 18.7 per 1,000 (about 1.87%). Data of more than 4.19 lakh such women were analyzed in the study. Of these, 7,853 women could not conceive even after five years of marriage. According to various medical research in India, 10% to 15% of married couples are affected by the problem of infertility at some level or the other.
The National Family Health Survey (NFHS) survey has also revealed that many women have to face domestic violence and mental harassment just because they do not have children. All these situations start from pressure from family and relatives, economic insecurity, taunts and discrimination in the society and later turn into mental harassment and domestic violence.
Get medical examination of both husband and wife. Avoid blaming each other. If needed, consider modern treatment methods like IVF, IUI. Seek help from a mental health expert. Adoption option is also available which they can avail.
According to a report of the National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development in the year 2025, out of 1534 married women without children, more than 4% are divorced or live separately. At the same time, the proportion of marriage breakdown among 3539 year old childless women was found to be more than 23%. Its number in the states of South India
This decision has brought relief to lakhs of women in Bihar and the country, who have to face divorce or harassment merely because they do not have children. This decision of the court proves that getting married is not a contract to produce a child. Unless the valid grounds mentioned in the law are proved, mere absence of a child cannot be a reason for not ending the marriage.
