„Dear newlyweds, you have crossed the threshold of this room to declare before all of us the will and desire to create a family. Under the Family Code of the Republic of Bulgaria its principles are equality of man and woman, a voluntary and durable marital union, and special protection of children”.

During the first six months of 2015 in Sofia alone, 2285 couples have heard these solemn words, by 161 more on the same time last year. This is according to the official records of the Sofia Metropolitan Registry.

How does Bulgaria fare in the statistics? According to Eurostat as per marriages and divorces across the European Union Bulgaria is at the bottom by the number of marriages along with Slovenia, Portugal, Luxembourg and Italy - with three marriages per 1000 people. From couples who get married in Bulgaria close to 50% later divorce. In official figures 8% of Bulgarians live in common-law marriages but in reality the share of cohabitation is much bigger because 59% of babies in 2014 were born out of wedlock.

On 1 October 2009 Bulgaria's new Family Code entered into force, however it does not regulate cohabitation while the Constitution protects only children. In other words, children born in a marriage and in cohabitation have equal rights. Why do young Bulgarians prefer cohabitation to marriage?

„There are several reasons,” says Sasha Gabrovska, Director of the Sofia Metropolitan Registry. “One of them is that unfortunately, many young people have emigrated. There is another very serious reason too and it is that the Bulgarian law unwittingly or purposefully, tolerates cohabitation.”

Under the law the father of the baby should acknowledge fatherhood formally, before a public notary, to give the child his name and surname. If this does not take place the mother will be eligible for social benefits and child allowances. Further, the children of single mothers have easier access to state kindergartens and single mothers can apply for municipal housing. After cohabitation is over there is no division of property, so legal proceedings and claims are effectively avoided. If the children are acknowledged by the father they gain equal rights with the ones born in a marriage and inherit both their parents.

Cohabitation though has got some minuses. For example, the woman in such a relationship has no right on property acquired jointly and cannot claim any inheritance. Once the relationship is over the parents have to reach agreement on how they should take care of the children, and the father is not obliged to pay support money. A couple in cohabitation is not eligible for a joint credit and its members have no right to receive information about hospital treatment of either partner. A special declaration of permission is required when the child travels with only one of the parents.

Eleonora and her husband have been married for a year now. Why have they chosen to get married?

„I grew up in a family respecting traditions in which marriage is sacred”, says the young woman. For her a family is about two people who love each other and marriage is a normal and logical stage that a relationship should reach. When the moment comes, when time and various situations have tested the tenacity of a relationship and the characters of the couple and everything shows that together you are stronger, happier and more secure, then marriage comes on top of the agenda, Eleonora says, and adds that the moment of proposal is a kind of magic.

Let us now hear the other side. Simeon is 40 and has not married the mother of his child. Why?

„A signature cannot keep us together. I do not think that a family without an official marriage is incomplete or inferior. If I feel fine with a person, if we love each other, the formal signature is worthless. My responsibility for my family is as big as in a marriage. I even do more than married men in a bid to keep the woman of my life by my side.”

English Daniela Konstantinova