Coontz notes some couples even choose not to marry in order to reassure adult children that they'll get their inheritances.

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And they might even encourage some couples to have more children.

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The Supreme Court will render such action moot if it strikes down DOMA. And if that happens, many same-sex couples will celebrate, even if it means that some will pay higher taxes.

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In some cases, communicating more often can even push long-distance couples apart, Guldner says.

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That is, she was young when she and Lin first met, but Manna has grown understandably restive during a long courtship that never gets beyond some furtive hand holding. (Army rules forbid unmarried couples from even walking together outside the compound walls.) She keeps urging Lin to divorce his wife, and every year he goes back to his village and tries to do so.

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Some in the government argue that the law should go even further by offering state funding for artificial insemination for gay couples.

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