In reply to Jakob Heckert.

My wife and I chose before we were married not to have children. We decided before our marriage that I would get a vasectomy because we did not want children. We chose sterilization knowing it was radical decision but I also knew if we ever changed our minds we could adopt, and we would love our adopted child as much as we would a natural child. We have been married 20 and have never looked back and regretted our childless union. I know that some judge (including family) our decision but it was our decision.

Should we been denied legal marriage because we never intended on having children? You ask why did we want to get married? We wanted to enter into a lifelong partnership of love, support and fidelity. But asking us the question why we wanted to get married or why gay people want to get married is really none of your business. Audrey's father and my brother both asked us that question before they would officiate our wedding and they had that right. Just as our Synod has the right not to preform gay weddings.

BTW our faith is important to us and we attend church weekly, my wife's father and both my brother and uncle are Missouri Synod Ministers. We did not announce our decision to them before our wedding but they all heard it when they asked us when we were going to start a family. Having children are no longer "necessary" for being married. Maybe I missed it during Confirmation instruction but I don't remember at any time being told that getting married and not intending of having children violated the Missouri Synod doctrine.

I do disagree with our doctrine about the immorality of committed same sex relationships...that is about the only doctrinal difference I have with the LCMS. But lets assume I am wrong and the Doctrine is right on this issue. When I look around the country and see the daily immorality of our 70% Christian society...homosexuality is way down the list on the immorality that is damaging our society. It isn't even as high on the list as infidelity and domestic violence as to the problems that are destroying the institution of marriage.