Mexico City Considers Two-Year Marriages

By , KDFW Dallas

Published December 10, 2016

Bride Satoko Inouye, 36, puts a ring on a finger of her groom Tomohiro Shibata 42, as I-Fairy, a four-foot tall seated robot, wearing a wreath of flowers, directs their wedding ceremony at a Tokyo restaurant Sunday, May 16, 2010. The wedding was the first time a marriage had been led by a robot, according to manufacturer Kokoro Co. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye) (AP2010)

Lovebirds unwilling to commit 'til death do they part will be able to sign short-term marriage contracts under a proposal being considered by Mexico City lawmakers.

Couples will be able to choose the term of their marriage, with a minimum length of two years, and renew the contract if they stay happy, according to a reform put forward by the liberal Democratic Revolution Party (PRD).

The PRD, which holds the majority in the city government, says the initiative makes sense in a city where divorce rates are soaring.

"We want to generate affectionate and harmonious relationships between spouses and, in the case that they don't want to stay together, enable them to separate without cumbersome proceedings that only harm families," the PRD's Lizbeth Rojas, who proposed the reform, said.

But Mexico's Roman Catholic Church has labeled the proposal "absurd."

"It contradicts the nature of marriage," Father Hugo Valdemar, spokesman for the Mexico City Archdiocese, said. It is an "irresponsible and immoral" move by legislators who are "destroying the family and values" to appear fashionable, he added.

Lawmakers will vote on the new contracts -- which will include provisions for child custody and the separation of property -- by the end of the year.

Mexico City is a liberal center in largely conservative Mexico. The city legalized gay marriage in 2010 and has the region's most lenient abortion laws.

For more stories from KDFW in the Dallas-Fort Worth area go to myfoxdfw.com.

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