I have been happily married for the past 38 years and believe in marriage. But not all marriages survive the ups and downs of everyday living.

Had matrimony survived intact I would be the first to stand up and defend the institution; but reality is different. Marriages break down and people are getting separated or divorced every day.

Unfortunately, as the law now stands, a couple facing dissolution do not have many options to talk about. It’s either separation (which in essence is divorce without the right to remarry) or annulment. Both are inadequate in their own way

While the first leaves the couple in a quandary but takes legal care of the children, the second allows the couple to remarry but the children now have to live with the fact that they were not born in wedlock but in a marriage that never existed.

Moreover, obtaining an annulment requires years and money, and the fact that you can’t see eye to eye with your partner is not reason enough for one’s marriage to be annulled.

Separation is also unkind to couples in that, if they do find somebody else to love and take care of them, they can only cohabitate with this new partner and any offspring would be illegitimate, born outside the legal framework.

These are the options imposed onto all Maltese citizens without taking into consideration that some may not be Catholics; they may be Muslim, Hindu or even atheists.

Actually, there is another alternative to this, albeit expensive. Any Maltese citizen can apply for a divorce in another EU country, and once given it is accepted in Malta; but this is discrimination depending on the size of your bank account.

I agree that as individuals and citizens of a democratic country along with all the state and Church machinery, we should do all we can to save marriages. After all, it the basic building block of our society.

But for those marriages that are irretrievably lost, it would be honourable to consider divorce as the next best solution, rather than cohabitation and illegitimate children.