The term unconsummated marriage (UM) can be defined as the failed attempt to perform successful sexual intercourse at the beginning of the marriage especially the first night.

Not having sexual intercourse in the first few nights of marriage may consider a problem especially in non-western societies; middle eastern societies.

This phenomenon may result in sexual and andro-gynecological visits for newly married couples because neither the groom nor the bride had any sexual history before.

Why This Phenomenon Appears? 

The exact dominance of this phenomenon is unknown yet, but it is thought that it is widely spread and more common in traditional and religious cultures.

The reason behind that may be due to several factors including:

-Lack of information

-Insufficient premarital education

– A cultural context strongly proscribing sexual behavior

-Expectations that intercourse take place immediately after the wedding.

-A radical shift from sexual abstinence to sexual intercourse.

The term “unconsummated marriage” itself is somehow “self-limiting”. In it implies not only sexual problems but social ones.

The social stress that is put on the newly couples is never taken into consideration, and it is the main reason behind unconsummated relationships.

Whether a couple is married or not, when both the man and the woman in a relationship have made the decision to have intercourse, yet despite their attempts, they are unable to accomplish the full act, and this may impact the relationship in so many ways.

Some of the social stress problem is transforming sexual intercourse” into a “mission”, and couples attempt as “achieving goals”  These couples often use goal-oriented words, referring to sex as “attempts” and the outcome as a “failure” or “success”.

Other couples may avoid attempting intercourse out of anxiety or fear of repeating past negative experiences.

What May Cause Unconsummated Marriage? 

The main reason behind unconsummated marriage, after the social stress, is a condition called “Vaginismus”.

Vaginismus has been traditionally reported as a leading cause of Unconsummated Marriage (UM).

In vaginismus, there is an unwillingness of the perivaginal muscles, which make the sexual attempt difficult.

Unconsummated Marriage Treatment 

Nowadays, there are several ways to treat unconsummated marriage for couples which includes:

• Narrative exposure therapy,
• Educating the anatomy of the female and the male reproductive system,
• Correcting misconceptions,
• Educating body exploring.

The entire stages of the treatment lasted for four sessions and at the one-month follow-up couple’s satisfaction was desirable.

You can contact us on: 

02 24159997

01112169556 – 01002169556

Or visit our clinic at this address:  93 El Merghany Street Cairo, Egypt