Can an infertile person get married?

[MamaGeek]

If a person is infertile through no fault of their own – say a paraplegic, someone who had a disease which rendered them infertile, or surgery to treat a life-threatening condition with the side-effect of infertility – can that person get married in the Catholic Church?

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

First, we need to make a sharp distinction between infertility (i.e., the inability to procreate children) and impotence (i.e., the inability to consummate a marriage through marital relations). Infertility, whether of a man or of a woman, is not a barrier to marriage. Impotence that is known at the time of the marriage to be permanent and irreversible is a barrier to marriage because the couple must be capable of consummating their marriage. If the couple has reason to assume that the impotence can be treated or reversed, they may get married.

Recommended reading:

Impotence as Impediment by Jimmy Akin