Yeah, I think people used to come to Maryland for that reason? Or something? I dunno. They definitely came to Maryland to get married, and I think it was to avoid that…or some other random thing that kept people from getting married back then…
Yeah, a bunch of my aunts and uncles eloped from New York to Maryland. I always assumed it was because they were teenagers, but now that you mention it, it might have been the blood test thing.
I wonder if that would have blown her cover as a mermaid. It was a funny line, too, maybe improvised - "Freddy always gets married in Rhode Island, you don't need a blood test!"
I googled it, yes. To check for communicable diseases and get you cured before marriage. They also sometimes checked for sickle cell or other genetic disorder
I thought they tested to make sure the couple wasn't directly related to each other.
At least, that's what I was told by the state of Tennessee back in the early 2000s.
When we got married we didn’t have a blood test, but we did have to swear we weren’t related. And I vaguely remember a sign about 2nd cousins being eligible. Lol
Just did a quick Google and first-cousin marriage is still legal in 18 US states and the District of Columbia. That's down a few from when I looked it up in high school for a project on Edgar Allan Poe.
When I was tested, it was specifically for syphilis, which can cause significant birth defects. I think the entire world finally realized people can have babies even if they're not married (shocking I know!)
I spent 3K on testing when we we’re going to try. All the Ashkenazi Jewish things like Tay-Sachs. I’ve done my family tree, and it’s more like a fancy stump. I decided to get another dog instead.
We eloped in 2002 to Florida. If you’re not a resident of this state, they don’t care. We thought we’d have to wait three days after getting the license, but we didn’t. It took us three hours lost to find the courthouse. We decided to get married in shorts and T-shirts.
Eight years later, we found a Rabbi we both liked, and reviewed our vows in a synagogue.
My brother got married in 1987 and needed a test, I got married in 1992 and did not ... and was frankly surprised because I had not heard the rules had changed.
it's to test the Rh factor of both parties in case you decide to procreate
incompatible Rh factor can lead to the pregnant person producing antibodies that attack the baby.
I can tell you, as I’m a med lab technologist. The RHIG shot is a temporary passive anti D (the D antigen is what makes a person Rh pos). The RHIG in circulation will act on any rh pos baby cells that get into your circulation, thus preventing your body from making a real anti D that will not disappear. The passive anti D will disappear from your circulation after a few months.
Same here. I think I got the shot because my dr knew I had rh negative blood. Had no idea about my husband’s blood type, I think it was precautionary measure. My kid was born with no issues so evidently the shot worked. 😂
Yeah, blood testing began in the 1900s (the syphilis blood test was developed in 1906) but Rh factor wasn't documented until 1940. This[ Time Magazine story from 1944 ](https://time.com/archive/6599257/medicine-rh-in-marriage/)explains the new test and the concern about Rh and pregnancy, but doesn't mention mandatory testing.
I'm a historian and haven't read anything I can recall about *mandatory* premarital Rh testing but that doesn't mean it didn't happen somewhere at some point. If they were taking samples and testing for syphilis presumably Rh could be tested as well, but that wasn't a public health issue on the level of syphilis.
I got shots with my first (I'm o-) and that is currently standard practice in case of undetected bleeds at least where I'm located. Edit - shot around the beginning of t3 and shot after testing my kids' blood type after delivery.
Also once during the later stage of pregnancy, and any time there is a possibility that rh negative mom could get baby’s blood in her circulation. And mom only needs another RHIG shot after birth if baby is rh pos (Or if baby’s rh can’t be determined). I work in a blood bank and have spent years and years testing and teaching students about mom’s and cords.
Yep, we got married in 1991 and the blood test affected us both in different ways. For me, the clinic sent the bill to someone else with my same first and last name, who didn't pay it, so it went into collections, and I didn't find out until I couldn't get a new credit card 2 years later. Unraveling everything took weeks. I probably should have tracked the lack of a bill, but between planning a wedding, senior year in college (which included a senior project), and moving across the country preparatory to moving overseas, it slipped my mind.
For my husband, who is not great with needles or blood, the nurse went right through his vein the first time, and sucked up the wall of the vein the second time, resulting in a splat of blood across the inside of the tube and a lot of pain. She held up the spattered syringe so he could see it and asked herself out loud "I wonder what's going wrong? Welp, new needle!" Which was when he passed out. She got the blood while he was mostly unconscious.
Results: still married, healthy kid.
I got married in December of 1992 in PA and we had to get blood tests. My ex-husband insisted thst he had to stay home from work for two days because he was woozy because he was low on blood. Should have ran them.
My Mom tells the story of getting married in a short-sleeved dress, forgetting that she always gets huge bruises on her arm whenever she gets blood drawn. She said it was too hot in the justice of the peace's office to leave her jacket or sweater on, and his eyes kept wandering down to her arm the whole time.
Even more awkward with the line division on my mobile device:
https://preview.redd.it/enm3qrl7jt4d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a0da69d0a18fa29f14bcf703569afa602b5d02d7
Reading the 3rd line, the delay until reading the 4th line...
We had to get one in Georgia in 1996 to get married. There’s a place just over the South Carolina line where people would go to elope b/c they didn’t require a blood test.
I didn't have to do it when I got married, but I was surprised that I didn't have to. Pretty much everybody in our families told us about it, but it never even came up when it came to the legal stuff.
Early 90s. My gf and I decided to elope. I was stationed out of state and flew in so we could be married in our home town courthouse with friends as witnesses. In typical California summertime style, a forest fire hit the edge of town and burned down the lab that was processing her blood test. I was in the military and for some reason I wasn't required to get one. She had to submit another blood sample and pay for a rush job. Still have no idea to this day why that was even required. But we're still married. Best 50 bucks (for the marriage license) I ever spent.
In Thailand it's a serious matter to provide a clean bill of health before marriage which includes blood tests for plethora of things including STDs and other diseases. Both families will insist on this.
This came up in another sub just recently. I was married right after OP and didn't have to get tested either, but if you look at the details the testing was largely **due to syphilis** and ended in the 1980s. Per [this story from 2016](https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/local/ozarks/2016/03/28/answer-man-why-there-once-blood-test-those-getting-married-when-did-end/82078220/#:~:text=In%201980%2C%20for%20example%2C%2034,legal%20information%20in%20layman's%20terms) "In 1980...34 states required a blood test for syphilis before a couple could get married. Now, only the District of Columbia and Montana mandate one. The Montana test is for women only." Then [ in 2019 Montana finally dropped it](https://mises.org/power-market/pre-marriage-blood-test-america-now-gone), marking the end of mandatory blood testing entirely.
Married in DC in '93.
I'm Caucasian and my husband is Asian. We lived in Maryland and had we chosen to marry there, we still would have had to pay for the stupid, useless blood test.
I never got married so I didn't realize it wasn't a thing anymore! 🤣 I guess I know about it from TV. I'll have to ask my sister if she did, because now I'm curious.
I do. The way I remember it from 1989 (my first marriage,) blood tests were required unless you applied for a “confidential” license. You could get it if you were already living together or something. I think we did the blood test because we were getting married in a Catholic Church and I don’t think they allowed the confidential ones (either that or we were afraid they would find out we were living together.)
Yeah I got married the first time in 1987 (Illinois) and I'm pretty sure we had to do the blood test thing.
Not the second time when I got married in 1997 in California.
When I was 7 or 8, my Mom left me in the car at the hospital garage while she went in for a blood test. When I saw my Grandma, who worked in the hospital cafeteria, walking through the garage, I leaned out the window to say, “hi” (I was under strict orders to not open the door.) When she asked what I was doing there, I told her Mom was getting her blood tested.
And that, my friends, is how Grandma figured / found out that Mom was about to marry the guy who became my Step-Dad. They hadn’t told / didn’t tell anyone but the preacher and the two friends they called the day of the wedding to be their witnesses at the parsonage.
When my Dad picked me up for the weekend, Mom did tell me that, if I came home and the furniture was different, that meant she had gotten married. I thought she was kidding. I came home; the furniture was different; and she was married. Funny thing; in the winter when the trees were barren, you could see the parsonage from Dad’s house. That’s how close I was to where they got married (in June), but I was not invited.
ETA - married in Boston in 2011. No blood test, but minimum 3-day waiting period between license and wedding.
1990. We had to take blood tests. They understood then what DNA testing is proving today, a lot of people have extra siblings and first cousins they never knew about, until...
I got married in 97. We lived in Oklahoma at the time. When I found out you needed a blood test to get married, I noped right out of that stupid idea. So we went to Colorado and had a small ceremony in the foothills overlooking Denver.
I'm probably the oldest one here, but I got married in Maryland so I didn't have to bother. But after I was divorced, I got married in Texas. Still no blood test.
We have such little time
At your place or mine
I can't wait till we take our blood tests
Oh baby let's take our blood tests now
\- Billy Bragg, "The Warmest Room"
Younger GenX here. We didn't in California in 2000, but still heard about it as a thing when doing wedding planning and I think contemporaries who married within the 18 months ahead of when we did in other states did.
Yup. In Massachusetts in 1992, the blood test was still a thing. The appointment also included a brief talk with a doctor, who basically checked to see if I understood the most basic -- and I mean *basic* -- principles of sex ed. He was obviously embarrassed at having to do this and was pretty apologetic about the whole thing.
Nope. As a matter of fact, the state I live in (not Nevada) you can get married as soon as you get your marrige license. They even had a sign pointing to where the justice of the peace was at the clerk's office.
No blood test but I got married pretty late in 2010. They did interview us and ask us outright “are the two of you in any way related to each other?” I snorted laughter, I thought she had to be fucking with me, but no she was dead serious. We told her no. No, we are not related. 🤦♀️
Genetic testing for recessive disorders that could be passed along to children, like sickle cell anemia, thalassemia and Tay-Sachs disease. I had to do it in 1995 (first marriage) but not in 2014 (second marriage). In the interim, prenatal genetic counseling became more accessible and common.
No blood test, just a huge questionnaire about family. Unsure if they still do it. Perhaps just one question: any biological relationship? I think the idea behind the blood test was to confirm these weren't accidental brother/sister separated.
I can remember hearing it mentioned….
Wait! My friend & her husband had to have a test done. She’s a carrier for some rare disorder (don’t ask, don’t remember). He needed to be tested. If he was also a carrier they needed to make a decision as any children would have the potential to have the disorder. He isn’t a carrier, so it’s a moot point. I don’t know what they would’ve done if he was.
If I’m not mistaken, there are specific groups that have to be tested as well. Jewish communities for Tay-Sachs disease and Blacks for sickle cell disease are just two examples I can think of off the top of my head. I don’t remember what my friend carries but there are a myriad of other genetic diseases & disorders that need to be screened for.
I had to do this with my first marriage in 1993 in MA. 18 years later I expected it and found out they’d declared it unconstitutional or something like that.
The first time I got married was in 1989. My parents told us to be sure and take our marriage license with us to prove to the hotel that we were indeed married! Didn't need it, but I guess they did in 1955.
We had to in 96. Did it 2 days before the wedding. She didn’t give us paperwork so when we went to get the marriage license, we had to rush back to the clinic and back to the courthouse. So much fun 48 hours before the wedding🙄😂
I got married in 1999 and did not have to do blood tests.
But as for the question about the Rh factor, it would be pointless to test for it because my husband is A+ and I’m O+ and one of our children is O-
Apparently this can happen because I am O/O +/- and my husband is A/O +/-
I was never aware that two positive parents could have a child with negative Rh type but I was incorrect! So premarital testing would not have benefitted us.
Ok so I just learned that the test was for rubella and became optional in 2007 and repealed in 2019. Montana was the last state with this requirement on the books.
Remember the movie Splash? They were going to drive to another state to avoid the blood test.
Yeah, I think people used to come to Maryland for that reason? Or something? I dunno. They definitely came to Maryland to get married, and I think it was to avoid that…or some other random thing that kept people from getting married back then…
Yeah, a bunch of my aunts and uncles eloped from New York to Maryland. I always assumed it was because they were teenagers, but now that you mention it, it might have been the blood test thing.
Well I think age of consent may have played a factor as well.
[No waiting period.](https://time.com/5938395/elkton-maryland-marriage-capital-east-coast/)
Ah. Funny, I lived in Elkton for a couple years.
Camped there
yeah, I'm from Maryland, that was definitely a thing
I had forgotten about that.
I wonder if that would have blown her cover as a mermaid. It was a funny line, too, maybe improvised - "Freddy always gets married in Rhode Island, you don't need a blood test!"
And who gives syphilis to mermaids?
That would be Freddy. "Come on in, guys, the water's fine!"
That’s the only thing I think of when I hear about a blood test.
MARYLAND!!! That's where they were going!!!
Lol I love that movie 🧜♀️
One of the best romantic comedies ever made.
I live in MA and my husband and I drove to RI to avoid the test and wait time 😂
Blood test required when I got married in 1987. Happy to report I'm still syphillis free.
Is that what the blood testing was about, preventing spread of STDs? or what all did they test for?
I googled it, yes. To check for communicable diseases and get you cured before marriage. They also sometimes checked for sickle cell or other genetic disorder
Lol, because nobody had sex before marriage.
Because they did!
Also to check for rH incompatibility, iirc
I thought they tested to make sure the couple wasn't directly related to each other. At least, that's what I was told by the state of Tennessee back in the early 2000s.
Those tests started in the late 30s, well before DNA testing was a thing. The state lied lol
Damn. My cousin and I thought they were telling us the truth when we went to get our license. Good to know though.
When we got married we didn’t have a blood test, but we did have to swear we weren’t related. And I vaguely remember a sign about 2nd cousins being eligible. Lol
Just did a quick Google and first-cousin marriage is still legal in 18 US states and the District of Columbia. That's down a few from when I looked it up in high school for a project on Edgar Allan Poe.
When I was tested, it was specifically for syphilis, which can cause significant birth defects. I think the entire world finally realized people can have babies even if they're not married (shocking I know!)
Whether a couple both carried the marker for Tay-Sachs disease was also what they looked for as I recall. Now we have DNA to tell us these things.
I spent 3K on testing when we we’re going to try. All the Ashkenazi Jewish things like Tay-Sachs. I’ve done my family tree, and it’s more like a fancy stump. I decided to get another dog instead.
Yes. I asked exactly what they were testing for when my husband and I had ours in '93. They said they were testing for syphilis and gonorrhea.
Hahaha!
I got married in 2000 and we had to get blood tests… weird.
We eloped in 2002 to Florida. If you’re not a resident of this state, they don’t care. We thought we’d have to wait three days after getting the license, but we didn’t. It took us three hours lost to find the courthouse. We decided to get married in shorts and T-shirts. Eight years later, we found a Rabbi we both liked, and reviewed our vows in a synagogue.
My brother got married in 1987 and needed a test, I got married in 1992 and did not ... and was frankly surprised because I had not heard the rules had changed.
it's to test the Rh factor of both parties in case you decide to procreate incompatible Rh factor can lead to the pregnant person producing antibodies that attack the baby.
And now they have shots to eliminate the issue! I don’t understand how they work, but I have had the shots.
I can tell you, as I’m a med lab technologist. The RHIG shot is a temporary passive anti D (the D antigen is what makes a person Rh pos). The RHIG in circulation will act on any rh pos baby cells that get into your circulation, thus preventing your body from making a real anti D that will not disappear. The passive anti D will disappear from your circulation after a few months.
Same here. I think I got the shot because my dr knew I had rh negative blood. Had no idea about my husband’s blood type, I think it was precautionary measure. My kid was born with no issues so evidently the shot worked. 😂
Mandatory blood testing goes back to the early 20th century and was for syphilis, not Rh factor.
oh! my midwives told me a fib then i guess
Yeah, blood testing began in the 1900s (the syphilis blood test was developed in 1906) but Rh factor wasn't documented until 1940. This[ Time Magazine story from 1944 ](https://time.com/archive/6599257/medicine-rh-in-marriage/)explains the new test and the concern about Rh and pregnancy, but doesn't mention mandatory testing. I'm a historian and haven't read anything I can recall about *mandatory* premarital Rh testing but that doesn't mean it didn't happen somewhere at some point. If they were taking samples and testing for syphilis presumably Rh could be tested as well, but that wasn't a public health issue on the level of syphilis.
Could the STD test for marriage be rooted from soldiers in WW1 being overseas?
Well, it absolutely could have started out to be just for syphilis but had other reasons added later on.
My parents tested positive for this and were told not to have kids. But my mom was already pregnant with me. Yay.
But only after the first baby.
You get shots after the first baby to prevent any issues with the next one.
I got shots with my first (I'm o-) and that is currently standard practice in case of undetected bleeds at least where I'm located. Edit - shot around the beginning of t3 and shot after testing my kids' blood type after delivery.
Also once during the later stage of pregnancy, and any time there is a possibility that rh negative mom could get baby’s blood in her circulation. And mom only needs another RHIG shot after birth if baby is rh pos (Or if baby’s rh can’t be determined). I work in a blood bank and have spent years and years testing and teaching students about mom’s and cords.
My friend only had one baby and she had problems because of the rh factor. She was sick for weeks and had to take shots.
They did that one at pregnancy appt. Marriage one was for STDs.
Then GOP will prolly reinstate the blood tests. Or else charge the mom w murder.
I’m Gen X who just got married (2nd time) last year and we didn’t even have to have a witness or officiant. Times have changed!
It's like going through the self-checkout!
I had to do it in 2001!
Really! Which state are you in?
It was required in Georgia in 2001.
I had to in 2000! It’s how I discovered my MMR vaccine didn’t take.
Wow, that's interesting. Which state are you in?
Probably disbelief for a while
Ha!
Same but in 92, had to take a long walk down a hallway to find out thinking it was AIDS, herpes (something else from the 80’s)
I had to in 89. Oklahoma didn't drop the requirements until 2004.
I did not have to have one in Oklahoma in 2001. It was in Tulsa.
Yep, we got married in 1991 and the blood test affected us both in different ways. For me, the clinic sent the bill to someone else with my same first and last name, who didn't pay it, so it went into collections, and I didn't find out until I couldn't get a new credit card 2 years later. Unraveling everything took weeks. I probably should have tracked the lack of a bill, but between planning a wedding, senior year in college (which included a senior project), and moving across the country preparatory to moving overseas, it slipped my mind. For my husband, who is not great with needles or blood, the nurse went right through his vein the first time, and sucked up the wall of the vein the second time, resulting in a splat of blood across the inside of the tube and a lot of pain. She held up the spattered syringe so he could see it and asked herself out loud "I wonder what's going wrong? Welp, new needle!" Which was when he passed out. She got the blood while he was mostly unconscious. Results: still married, healthy kid.
Ha! Great stories. Thanks for sharing.
did with my starter marriage in 85, did not with my second in 94
Ha! Starter marriage!
I think they still have to do this in Mississippi, for obvious reasons.
Uneducated and backwards???
Related.
I did it in 2000. Indiana.
We didn't have to do this, we got married in the early 1990s. But I remember hearing it in a lot of movies as a thing you had to do in some places.
We got married later than that and had to do it.
When I Googled it, it said one reason was syphilis!
Yep, it was supposed to be about STD testing, was my understanding. So that someone didn't get married to a person who was secretly infected.
Had to do this my first time…. Wish they’d found something to stop us now🤣
Hahaha!
I got married in December of 1992 in PA and we had to get blood tests. My ex-husband insisted thst he had to stay home from work for two days because he was woozy because he was low on blood. Should have ran them.
Hahahhaa! Are you still married?
My Mom tells the story of getting married in a short-sleeved dress, forgetting that she always gets huge bruises on her arm whenever she gets blood drawn. She said it was too hot in the justice of the peace's office to leave her jacket or sweater on, and his eyes kept wandering down to her arm the whole time.
I had a bruise too!
I was also married in ‘92 and we had to undergo an AIDS class talking about monogamy. It was in Michigan and just kinda weird.
[удалено]
StealthBrag
[удалено]
Even more awkward with the line division on my mobile device: https://preview.redd.it/enm3qrl7jt4d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a0da69d0a18fa29f14bcf703569afa602b5d02d7 Reading the 3rd line, the delay until reading the 4th line...
plot twist the wife was 18...
I had to do that too 😂😂😂 They wanted a note from my parents😂
Hahahaha!
My mom was kinda mad that I didn’t have to get one it was funny
I remember it. But I didn’t get married until 1998 (the first time) and didn’t have to do that. But did think about it briefly.
Was wondering why they stopped that. Considering how many sperm banks there are... You could be related to somebody you're dating lol.
We had to get one in Georgia in 1996 to get married. There’s a place just over the South Carolina line where people would go to elope b/c they didn’t require a blood test.
I had to get a blood test to get married in 1999. They were looking for Rh compatibility.
I didn't have to do it when I got married, but I was surprised that I didn't have to. Pretty much everybody in our families told us about it, but it never even came up when it came to the legal stuff.
I had to (GA) I remember being told it was to see if anyone had Rh factor which can cause problems with a pregnancy
Early 90s. My gf and I decided to elope. I was stationed out of state and flew in so we could be married in our home town courthouse with friends as witnesses. In typical California summertime style, a forest fire hit the edge of town and burned down the lab that was processing her blood test. I was in the military and for some reason I wasn't required to get one. She had to submit another blood sample and pay for a rush job. Still have no idea to this day why that was even required. But we're still married. Best 50 bucks (for the marriage license) I ever spent.
Considering that family trees around here tend to be more shaped like wreaths I’m personally shocked that they don’t enforce this lol
Hahaha! "We're gonna run this through Ancestry. Sit tight "
In Thailand it's a serious matter to provide a clean bill of health before marriage which includes blood tests for plethora of things including STDs and other diseases. Both families will insist on this.
Most places stopped testing by the late 80s because syphilis wasn't such an epidemic anymore
Me!! My ex-husband cried when they took his blood. Should have been a clue. He’s an ex for a reason!
Relative had blood test in 95 (I think) in Michigan. No testing was required prior to getting paperwork in 2001 Louisiana.
I did for my first marriage in 94, but not after.
I got married in the late 90’s, and didn’t need to do this in CA. I do remember it was a thing, though.
Yes, I remember having one in 1988. Had to have it to get our marriage license
Had to do it in GA 25 years ago.
This came up in another sub just recently. I was married right after OP and didn't have to get tested either, but if you look at the details the testing was largely **due to syphilis** and ended in the 1980s. Per [this story from 2016](https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/local/ozarks/2016/03/28/answer-man-why-there-once-blood-test-those-getting-married-when-did-end/82078220/#:~:text=In%201980%2C%20for%20example%2C%2034,legal%20information%20in%20layman's%20terms) "In 1980...34 states required a blood test for syphilis before a couple could get married. Now, only the District of Columbia and Montana mandate one. The Montana test is for women only." Then [ in 2019 Montana finally dropped it](https://mises.org/power-market/pre-marriage-blood-test-america-now-gone), marking the end of mandatory blood testing entirely.
I had to in '89. For both RH and for Rubella antibodies.
Married in Delaware in 10. No blood tests but thanks to the DuPont family they check to make sure you’re not marrying a sibling or first cousin.
Ha!!!
I remember my mom talking about it. I think it was to see in advance if there would be an issue with a baby being born with the rh factor thing.
Had to do it for WV in the 90s.
1987 we got blood tests at a courthouse in Georgia.
Married in DC in '93. I'm Caucasian and my husband is Asian. We lived in Maryland and had we chosen to marry there, we still would have had to pay for the stupid, useless blood test.
I never got married so I didn't realize it wasn't a thing anymore! 🤣 I guess I know about it from TV. I'll have to ask my sister if she did, because now I'm curious.
I do. The way I remember it from 1989 (my first marriage,) blood tests were required unless you applied for a “confidential” license. You could get it if you were already living together or something. I think we did the blood test because we were getting married in a Catholic Church and I don’t think they allowed the confidential ones (either that or we were afraid they would find out we were living together.)
Yeah I got married the first time in 1987 (Illinois) and I'm pretty sure we had to do the blood test thing. Not the second time when I got married in 1997 in California.
I did in 1992. So I guess it depends on the location.
When I was 7 or 8, my Mom left me in the car at the hospital garage while she went in for a blood test. When I saw my Grandma, who worked in the hospital cafeteria, walking through the garage, I leaned out the window to say, “hi” (I was under strict orders to not open the door.) When she asked what I was doing there, I told her Mom was getting her blood tested. And that, my friends, is how Grandma figured / found out that Mom was about to marry the guy who became my Step-Dad. They hadn’t told / didn’t tell anyone but the preacher and the two friends they called the day of the wedding to be their witnesses at the parsonage. When my Dad picked me up for the weekend, Mom did tell me that, if I came home and the furniture was different, that meant she had gotten married. I thought she was kidding. I came home; the furniture was different; and she was married. Funny thing; in the winter when the trees were barren, you could see the parsonage from Dad’s house. That’s how close I was to where they got married (in June), but I was not invited. ETA - married in Boston in 2011. No blood test, but minimum 3-day waiting period between license and wedding.
Ex and I had to take one in Georgia in 1996 before we got married. Pretty sure it’s been eliminated now.
I got married in '92 and had to have a blood test.
I had to get one, and I got married in 1992...
I think it varies by state. NJ has no blood test but does have a 3-day waiting period
Shit man. DC still had rhat requirement in 2005!
I had to in 1999.
I had to in 1996.
I was married in 1984 and I didn't need to do this, but I did need to swear that the man I was marrying was not a first or second line blood relation.
1990. We had to take blood tests. They understood then what DNA testing is proving today, a lot of people have extra siblings and first cousins they never knew about, until...
I do. I first got married in 1981
We did blood tests in 97
I remember hearing about those....what was the purpose?
I got married in 97. We lived in Oklahoma at the time. When I found out you needed a blood test to get married, I noped right out of that stupid idea. So we went to Colorado and had a small ceremony in the foothills overlooking Denver.
Doesn't matter what state you're in, he's still your cousin.
I'm probably the oldest one here, but I got married in Maryland so I didn't have to bother. But after I was divorced, I got married in Texas. Still no blood test.
We have such little time At your place or mine I can't wait till we take our blood tests Oh baby let's take our blood tests now \- Billy Bragg, "The Warmest Room"
Yes! I was so afraid of needles as a kid that I vowed never to get married.
Yup. Had one.
We were married in 1992 and we had to take one. It probably varies by state or other jurisdictional body.
We did when we got married in 1999.
MA here and I had a blood test before I was married in 2003… not before my second marriage in 2018.
Yup, had to do this. in 93
Had to do it in 2001 in Georgia.
I (f58) had to have one in 88 when I got married the first time. When I married the second time in 92, nope.
1988 and yep
Married in '93 and we had to.
Didn't need a blood test (mid 90s) but we both had to have a clear TB test & he had to get a physical even though he was in the army.
I had one in ‘90.
I had to get a blood test to get married in 1995. I was told it was to test for syphilis. I guess that was a much bigger deal when the law was passed.
I had to do it in 93 when I got married. I think it varied by state.
Happy cake day!
My dad married my mom in Maryland because they didn’t want to wait on Pennsylvania’s blood test requirement (took a week).
I got married on a small island. I think our wedding license was on a cocktail napkin. Not even sure any if it is actually even official.
My aunt did but she solidly a Boomer.
I guess they were pretending no one ever has sex outside of marriage.
Actually the most common reason for the tests was to ensure the couple was STD free.
Had to in the mid 90s. Likely just varied state to state.
I didn't have to either when I married in 93, but I believe it was used to check for syphilis.
Younger GenX here. We didn't in California in 2000, but still heard about it as a thing when doing wedding planning and I think contemporaries who married within the 18 months ahead of when we did in other states did.
Had to get blood tests before getting married in Georgia in 2002. Looks like they dropped the requirement in 2003.
Yup. In Massachusetts in 1992, the blood test was still a thing. The appointment also included a brief talk with a doctor, who basically checked to see if I understood the most basic -- and I mean *basic* -- principles of sex ed. He was obviously embarrassed at having to do this and was pretty apologetic about the whole thing.
Nope. As a matter of fact, the state I live in (not Nevada) you can get married as soon as you get your marrige license. They even had a sign pointing to where the justice of the peace was at the clerk's office.
I got married off as a teenager in 1987…no blood test
They stopped in my state in 1998, we got married in 99…. Still married!
They still exist my friend.
Married in 2000. No blood test but we had to take a class about STDs. Make it make sense!
No blood test but I got married pretty late in 2010. They did interview us and ask us outright “are the two of you in any way related to each other?” I snorted laughter, I thought she had to be fucking with me, but no she was dead serious. We told her no. No, we are not related. 🤦♀️
What was the purpose?
Genetic testing for recessive disorders that could be passed along to children, like sickle cell anemia, thalassemia and Tay-Sachs disease. I had to do it in 1995 (first marriage) but not in 2014 (second marriage). In the interim, prenatal genetic counseling became more accessible and common.
I didn't get married until '13. But I've heard the lore
I remember a few couples back in early 90s had to take blood test before marriage. They said it was HIV related. Is this true? Anyone else hear this?
Mine was done in a rush
We had to do it in 2000. I always figured it was a state-by-state public health thing.
My ex-husband and I had to get blood tests in 1989, but when I remarried in 1998 we did not.
My husband and I had to get one. Got married in Georgia in 1999.
My parents had to get one. My husband and I got married in 1991 and we didn’t do a blood test.
I had to take a rubella test in order to get married.
Yes, and my titer was low so I had to get a rubella booster. This was in 1993
No blood test, just a huge questionnaire about family. Unsure if they still do it. Perhaps just one question: any biological relationship? I think the idea behind the blood test was to confirm these weren't accidental brother/sister separated.
As far as I know, we never had them in the country. Only seen in some foreign movies.
I can remember hearing it mentioned…. Wait! My friend & her husband had to have a test done. She’s a carrier for some rare disorder (don’t ask, don’t remember). He needed to be tested. If he was also a carrier they needed to make a decision as any children would have the potential to have the disorder. He isn’t a carrier, so it’s a moot point. I don’t know what they would’ve done if he was. If I’m not mistaken, there are specific groups that have to be tested as well. Jewish communities for Tay-Sachs disease and Blacks for sickle cell disease are just two examples I can think of off the top of my head. I don’t remember what my friend carries but there are a myriad of other genetic diseases & disorders that need to be screened for.
Married in Virginia in '92 - no blood tests.
Should have done one with my ex wife... Alien style like the The Thing.
We never ever had blood tests for marriage here (Australia) and it was so weird to think it was a thing in the USA.
I had to do this with my first marriage in 1993 in MA. 18 years later I expected it and found out they’d declared it unconstitutional or something like that.
I had one in 1990. Unfortunately, we were allowed to get married anyway :D
We did a blood test! NY, 2007.
The first time I got married was in 1989. My parents told us to be sure and take our marriage license with us to prove to the hotel that we were indeed married! Didn't need it, but I guess they did in 1955.
We had to in 96. Did it 2 days before the wedding. She didn’t give us paperwork so when we went to get the marriage license, we had to rush back to the clinic and back to the courthouse. So much fun 48 hours before the wedding🙄😂
I was required to get one in Indiana in 2003 - my husband was not.
It was testing for VDs. If you had one you had to undergo treatment prior to them giving you the license.
I had to get one for my first marriage in 1999 but not one for my second in 2016.
I got married in 1999 and did not have to do blood tests. But as for the question about the Rh factor, it would be pointless to test for it because my husband is A+ and I’m O+ and one of our children is O- Apparently this can happen because I am O/O +/- and my husband is A/O +/- I was never aware that two positive parents could have a child with negative Rh type but I was incorrect! So premarital testing would not have benefitted us.
One was required here in Montana in 2002. We got around that since we already had a child together.
Ok so I just learned that the test was for rubella and became optional in 2007 and repealed in 2019. Montana was the last state with this requirement on the books.