If a wife in a marriage does not wish to face the responsibility of childbearing, and the husband files divorce proceedings for some reason, is the husband entitled to claim moral compensation from the wife?On this issue, lawyer Hu Yuting expressed her corresponding opinion at 22:35 on March 24, 2022.
When two people decide to enter the palace of marriage, the responsibility of having children is naturally and inevitably taken into account. Given the differences in the anatomy between men and women, women are exposed to greater physical risks during childbearing than men. Because of this, women tend to be cautious when choosing a partner.
So, in this case, does childbearing become a legal obligation after the marriage is established?If a wife refuses to have children, or even aborts the child she is already pregnant with without her husband's knowledge, or chooses not to get pregnant altogether, does this constitute a violation of her husband's reproductive rights?
In fact, there are cases in judicial practice in a similar situation, where the husband filed a divorce lawsuit and sought moral compensation from his wife because he was unable to obtain the children he wanted. Today, we will use this topic to explain the principle of equality between men and women in marriage.
Here's a case study:
The protagonists of the case are a male Li and a female Wang. In the early years, Li met Wang, who was also divorced, while working abroad. At that time, Wang already had a daughter left by her ex-husband.
After meeting, the two fall in love. In order to ensure that his daughter is not wronged in the future family environment, Wang hopes to find a prince charming who treats him as his own. Li promised to fulfill her wishes, so in 2008, the couple successfully entered the sacred marriage hall.
However, soon after their marriage, the couple had a conflict over whether they should have children. Li longed to have a child of his own, and Wang made it clear that he was willing to refuse.
Although Li tried all kinds of methods to get his wife pregnant, it never worked. This made Li's heart full of resentment, and his mother was also quite dissatisfied.
It wasn't until later that Li learned that his wife had undergone permanent birth control. Li and his mother demanded that she should restore her fertility, but they refused.
Wang resolutely told Li that even if they did not have children, they could still grow old together. Inspired by his wife's patient persuasion and the story of Meng's mother's three moves, Li gradually understood and accepted the current situation, believing that it was better to raise his stepdaughter well than to break up the family because of the inability to have children.
However, this calm lasted only a few years. As time flies, Li's mother repeatedly urged him to hug Sun Chenghuan's knees, and various factors such as the pressure of the surrounding ** and the desire to continue the incense are like a mountain oppressing Li.
Eventually, he realized that he still longed to have a child of his own. As a result, the relationship between the couple gradually cracked, and they went to court for a divorce fight.
In 2021, Li officially filed a divorce lawsuit;At the same time, he proposed to implore the court to order Wang to pay 150,000 yuan in spiritual solace on the grounds that Wang had deliberately avoided childbirth for many years, causing him to have no children of his own for more than ten years of marriage, and then causing him heavy mental trauma.
However, it is regrettable. After the trial of the case, the court rejected Li's claim. Why did the ruling come out this way?
Problem Analysis and Analysis:
First, we look at fertility from a legal perspective. According to the relevant provisions of the Civil Code, parents have the right to decide whether to have children on their own, and no unit or individual may interfere with them.
This means that the act of procreation falls within the scope of the free will of citizens and is not subject to legal compulsion. In other words, even after marriage, the wife is reluctant to have children, and the husband can only resolve the matter through negotiation.
Second, Li filed a request to ask his ex-wife for spiritual solace money, which involved issues related to compensation for moral damages.
Although in some special circumstances, the court may support the party's claim for compensation, the two major elements of moral damages must be "the existence of the fact of infringement" and the perpetrator should bear civil liability. In this case, Li did not meet the conditions for compensation.
To sum up, in a marital relationship, the husband does not have the right to forcibly demand that his wife have children. Whether from the perspective of morality and ethics or legal procedures, it is difficult for Li's litigation claims to be supported.
Through an in-depth analysis of the legal level, it is not difficult for us to find that sperm ovulation is shared and carried out by husband and wife, in short, no matter which party wishes to have any attitude towards reproduction, it all comes down to the exercise of a basic human right - reproductive rights. In particular, it is worth pointing out that in China's current marriage law, marriage not only does not have a compulsory obligation to give birth, but also follows the principle of equality between men and womenTherefore, after the parties enter the new marriage, they are not required to comply with the other half's requirements for childbirth, that is, there is no possibility of suing the other party for the failure to give birth.
For example, if a wife is pregnant with a fetus and decides to terminate the birth due to personal reasons, this can also be regarded as a process of exercising reproductive rights, which is in line with Article 23 of the Interpretation (1) of the Marriage and Family Section of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China: if the husband claims compensation from the court on the grounds that his wife has violated her reproductive rights by terminating the pregnancy without authorization, the people's court will not recognize such claims.
However, in real life, there are all kinds of controversies and disputes caused by reproductive rights. For example, in the case of Li and Wang, a dispute over compensation for moral damages arose over the issue of reproductive rights.
Li stubbornly believes that because his wife is unwilling to have children, he cannot have biological children, which undoubtedly encroaches on his reproductive rights;However, this view is contrary to the current values of marriage, and the main reason is the unconscious bias caused by thousands of years of traditional beliefs against the stereotype of the wife unconditionally submissive to her husband.
According to Article 1072 of the Civil Code, stepparents and stepchildren should ensure that they do not abuse or discriminate against each other.
Furthermore, the relationship of rights and obligations between stepfathers or stepmothers and stepchildren who receive their support and education shall be governed by the relevant provisions of this Law on the relationship between parents and children. In other words, when Li is old, he has the right to require his stepdaughter to bear the obligation of support.
From the perspective of judicial practice, when it comes to reproductive rights, the law tends to give women rights and interests, because due to the congenital reasons of women's physiological structure, they need to face more reproductive risks, and once they have children, they need to bear more family responsibilities. Although in another case, i.e., after the wife has not yet given birth, the law and judicial interpretations do not clearly stipulate whether the husband or wife may not have children and whether they have the right to demand corresponding compensation or compensation from the other party.
However, in practice, all cases in which the husband sought moral compensation because of his wife's refusal to have children ended in failure. In fact, procreation is not the only way to get married, neither the woman nor the man is a tool for procreation, the wife has the right to decide whether to have children, and the husband is the same, which is a manifestation of the right to individual freedom and a testimony of fairness and justice.
Because of this, in peacetime, if a husband forcibly has sexual relations with his wife, it may even constitute a ** crime, because marriage is not a contract of sale, human beings cannot buy and sell at will, and dignity should not be trampled on.
Therefore, if the wife has to obey her husband's request unconditionally because of the conclusion of the marriage relationship, and even loses the right to sexual freedom and reproduction, and even the right to refuse, then there is no doubt that this will make many women have an extreme fear of marriage, and it will also run counter to the idea of the balance between men and women in today's society.
Partners have the right to cohabitation, but this right should be regarded as a right of claim rather than an exercise;Similarly, the right to procreation is also the right to procreate, where an individual may invite the other person to complete the reproductive process together, but the marital relationship must not be used as a precondition for forcing the other person to have children.
If the existence of a marriage is to be inferred from the consequences of selling a person to another person, the result of such an inference is undoubtedly extremely frightening.
According to article 51 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests, women have the lawful right to have children in accordance with the laws and regulations set by the state, and also have the right to choose not to have children voluntarily. Pregnancy, childbirth or termination of pregnancy are all covered by the right to procreation, and this right is based on the respect and protection of the right to life by law.
Requiring wives to be absolutely submissive to their husbands in many aspects of married life, including reproductive issues, is a striking manifestation of centuries of patriarchal prejudice. In response to this view, it is difficult to obtain legal support for making the wife who refuses to have children pay so-called moral damages.
In my personal opinion, when the situation developed to the point where the wife did not want to have children and the husband appealed for compensation, it happened to reveal that the concept of the bloody man had not yet departed from the framework of complacency, and he mistakenly thought that marriage was a fig leaf for prevaricating and unbridled demand for the woman.
This mode of thinking is the blueprint of countless men's fantasies about their wives - gentleness, frugality, filial piety, and inwardness.