Alright, let me set the stage for you. Imagine a 16-year-old girl, sitting in algebra class one minute, and the next, she’s in a courtroom because some grown man wants to call her his wife. What?! This is not a scene from a medieval drama. This was real life in New Hampshire until a few days ago. But guess what? They finally got it together. As of January 1, 2025, no more child brides in the Granite State. Hallelujah! New Hampshire said, “We’re not about that life anymore,” and made 18 the minimum marriage age, no exceptions.
Now, here’s where it gets wild—New Hampshire is only the 13th state to do this. Thirteenth! That means there are 37 states still out here playing fast and loose with kids’ lives. And hold onto your seats: four of these states—California, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Oklahoma—don’t even have a minimum age. ZERO. Zip. Nada. So technically, in these places, a 10-year-old could be walking down the aisle as long as someone checks the right boxes. Y’all, what kind of backwoods nonsense is this?
Between 2000 and 2018, nearly 300,000 minors got married in the United States. Let me say that again: three hundred thousand. That’s not marriage; that’s legalized babysitting with trauma perks. And most of these kids? Young girls marrying adult men. Like, full-grown men with 401(k)s and back pain. How is this still happening in a country that brags about being the land of the free?
New Hampshire’s big move didn’t just fall out of the sky, though. Groups like Unchained At Last and the Tahirih Justice Center have been working overtime to shine a light on this mess. And let me tell you, they’ve had to fight off some ridiculous excuses. “Oh, it’s our tradition.” “It’s part of our religion.” “It’s parental rights.” Nah, it’s creepy, that’s what it is. Tradition doesn’t mean squat when kids’ lives are at stake.
And don’t even get me started on those so-called “protections” like parental consent or judicial approval. You know how that goes. Some judge with no training and no clue signs off on a marriage because, hey, why not? And parental consent? Please. Sometimes the parents are the ones pushing the kid into it. This is the kind of “protection” that leaves kids unprotected.
Let’s talk about Florida for a second. They raised the marriage age to 17 in 2018, but not before an 11-year-old—yes, eleven—was forced to marry her rapist. And it took her going public with that horror story to get lawmakers to act. Even then, they left loopholes big enough to drive a minivan through. Like, what part of “child” are we not understanding here?
Meanwhile, other countries—countries we love to wag our fingers at—have already banned child marriage. Sweden? Banned. Denmark? Banned. The Netherlands? Banned. And here we are, dragging our feet, acting like this is a tough call. Spoiler alert: it’s not.
So, props to New Hampshire for finally stepping up. But let’s not pop the champagne just yet. Until every state makes 18 the minimum age for marriage—no exceptions, no loopholes—this fight ain’t over. And it shouldn’t be. We’re talking about kids here. Kids who deserve to be kids, not somebody’s child bride.
America, it’s time to grow up and do better. If Sweden can figure this out, so can we. Let’s put an end to this nonsense once and for all. Because in the land of the free, no child should ever have to say, “I do.”
