WE’VE ALL HEARD of promise rings and purity balls, but this American bride went a step further to prove she was a virgin on her wedding day.
Newly married Brelyn Bowman is going viral for giving her dad a rather unusual gift: A certificate confirming that she remained ‘pure’ until marriage.
Writing on Instagram, Brelyn called her father her “first love”, and said it was her choice to prove she kept her promise to him:
I was able to present a certificate of purity to him signed by my doctor that my hymen was still intact. Also the covenant he gave me when I was 13.
Brelyn’s posts quickly went viral and the reaction was less than positive from both religious folk and non-religious folk, who are wondering why she needed to share so much information with her father.
Some are also pointing out that an intact hymen isn’t really proof of virginity - most women know it can be broken in a variety of non-sexual ways (horse riding, for instance.)
But some people are touched by the gesture:
Her father, Dr Mike Freeman (no relation to DailyEdge.ie‘s Michael Freeman), is a pastor and the founder of the Spirit of Faith Christian Centre in Maryland. He acknowledged the negative attention the certificate was getting in an Instagram post:
Who knew that a pic like this would get so much negativity but a natural man will not understand things of the Spirit for they are foolishness to them!!!
Dr Freeman’s new son-in-law, Timothy Bowman, also remained a virgin until marriage –speaking to BuzzFeed, the pastor said he took Timothy’s word on it, as there’s no medical test to ‘prove’ a man’s virginity.
Brelyn, who sometimes calls herself a ‘Preacher of Purity’, has brushed off the criticism while enjoying her honeymoon.
Apparently some people on social media are trying to decide if they like or don’t like my commitment of waiting/presenting a certificate to my dad. I started to want to explain/go in depth then I looked to my right and my husband is swimming in the pool. I looked ahead and saw the Indian Ocea. So while they’re deciding I’ll enjoy the promises of God for my life!
This article was written by Valerie Loftus and originally posted on TheDailyEdge.ie.
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