10/08/2024
WHEN BEST TO MARRY:
MATURITY cannot be overemphasized as one of the basic qualifications for marriage. According to Sam Clifford, the considerate age for women is between the ages of 21 and 30.
For men, it is between the ages of 25 and 35. Reasons being that "growth and age affect body functions.
At this age the body is matured for biological functions and mentally balanced to carry family responsibilities. The Professor F. E. Otta has it that "the best time for the female body to nurture pregnancy is between the ages of twenty and thirty-five."
Maturity is of great importance in considering marriage. Many marriages contracted prematurely end in divorce because the couples were not mentally, emotionally and psychologically balanced for its teaming responsibilities.
Marriage is not only a means of legal and moral satisfaction of sexual urges. It carries with it greater responsibilities. One must be mature for it.
EARLY MARRIAGE TRAP - According to Professor F. E. Otta, any age before eighteen is unsafe. Reason being that the pelvis has not developed. Girls under eighteen years normally have prolonged labour during their first pregnancy.
Note this: "early menstruation does not mean sexual maturity." A girl might start menstruating at early adolescence, but the womb might not be adequately prepared to harbor a baby.
Sam Clifford stated that "those between the ages of 12 and 18 run higher risks of having premature babies, stillbirths, and dysmature babies."
According to him, a dysmature baby is a baby which spends the natural 37/38 weeks in the womb but experiences an unrest or improper growth and development so that at birth it is very small, weighing far less than a normal baby.
In early marriage couples are liable to produce too many children that they are not capable of catering for; they have a high rate of divorce and remarriage. This could be a result of their mentality not being matured enough as to make the right choice in marriage.