My newly-wed wife is pregnant by another man

Dear Harold,

We exchanged vows in a colourful wedding in Nairobi three months ago but I highly suspect that my wife was already pregnant with another man’s baby.

I suspect so because we recently visited our family doctor for routine check-up and said she is four months pregnant. Moreover, as Christians, we vowed not to engage in premarital sex until we exchange vows in church. I have since been heartbroken and convinced that I was cheated into marriage unknowingly.

I am seriously contemplating opting out as I feel cheated having sacrificed time during courtship and spent a fortune to singly finance the wedding. Much as I deeply cared for her, I doubt whether I can forgive her as it shows that there is absolutely no trust in our relationship. Can a marriage be nullified on grounds that the bride was pregnant with another man’s baby without the knowledge of the groom at the time of the wedding?

Anthony, Nakuru

Yes, a marriage can be nullified in court when the bride was pregnant by another person other than the bridegroom. Therefore, you may have a valid ground before court but you must also be ready to prove that you were not aware of her pregnancy at the time of exchanging vows.

There are decided cases, in the United Kingdom, on the same that serve as judicial precedents in Kenya. For instance, in the case of Poulet Perrage, the wife was three months pregnant at the time of marriage. It was only two months after the wedding that the husband realised that he married her while expectant.

Further evidence in court showed she delivered six months after the wedding. The marriage was nullified after he proved no sexual intercourse before marriage and the baby was not his.

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