Anglican church forces bride to wear yellow for getting pregnant before wedding

oge okonkwo

February 29, 2016 1:25 PM

A social media user said a friend of hers who was supposed to wed in an Anglican church in Onitsha, Anambra state was forced to wear a yellow wedding gown for being two weeks pregnant.

Anglican church forces bride to wear yellow wedding gown for getting pregnant

When it comes to church weddings in Nigeria, Orthodox churches like Anglican are known to stick to certain rules and regulations concerning brides and grooms who are planning to walk down the aisle.

These churches also have consequences for engaged couples who break these rules. While the church considers this the right action to taken, others think the measures are too extreme.

READ: Wedding dress code for brides and grooms regulated by Anglican church [PHOTOS]

According to reports from a social media user who had written to blogger, Laila Ijeoma, a friend of hers who was supposed to wed in an Anglican church in Onitsha, Anambra state was forced to wear a yellow wedding gown for being two weeks pregnant.

The bride said the church initially wanted her to wear a black wedding gown 'because she wasn't supposed to get pregnant before her wedding', she was left at the church's mercy because it was just a few days to her wedding.

Read the social media user's letter below:

Hello Laila,

Anglican Church has been shamelessly promoting discrimination against women and I CAN NO LONGER KEEP QUIET. This rubbish going on in the Anglican church has to stop. Any form of gender bias is ungodly. This church mandate that couple who want to get married must go for pregnancy test 2 weeks before wedding and if the woman is found to be even a day pregnant then she will be humiliated while the husband who got her pregnant will go scot-free. I am elated when my friend invited me to her wedding which was supposed to hold at All saints cathedral Onitsha. I was billed to serve as one of her train. Imagine my shock when I got there 3 days to the wedding day only to see my friend crying herself to bits. She has lost a lot of weight and would not eat or be consoled. When I inquired to know what was eating her up. She told me she was pregnant and I was like she should be celebrating after all her wedding was in 2 days time while her traditional wedding was done almost 2 months back. That was when she spilled the beans. She told me that the Church said that she would wear black wedding gown because she was not supposed to get pregnant before the wedding day. I was bemused. Worse is that they will not even inform you of this stupid law until you must have paid the wedding fee of N30,000. At that point, They will only have you at their mercy because it's already late for you to change venue and your invitation cards may have been all sent out. The part that worries me greatly is that the women are the target of this new discriminatory law. This is the 21st century for crying out loud. Why would the bride alone be punished for something that both She and the groom did? Why would the groom be allowed to adorned his full tuxedo while the bride is forced into some hideous clothing. Yes, No sex before marriage is good but honestly it is outdated to not understand your partner's sexuality before marriage. Worse is that some impotent people hide under the guise of born again to deceive other innocent people into marriages. Now when you finally end up with a barren or impotent partner, the same church will tell you that you must never divorce. Hell no. This lunacy muststop. The Anglican Communion must clean up its mess and stop attacking women.

oge okonkwo