Status of pregnancies outside marriage still unclear in UAE after law change


FILE PHOTO: UAE flag flies over a boat at Dubai Marina, Dubai, United Arab Emirates May 22, 2015. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah/File Photo/File Photo

DUBAI (Reuters) - Seven months after the UAE decriminalised premarital sex, the legal change is not always reflected in how pregnancies outside marriage are treated, according to government guidance, lawyers and hospital staff.

While women are no longer jailed for premarital sex, new births require the parents' marriage certificate, health insurers do not offer maternity cover to unmarried women and in private online chatrooms unmarried women remain wary of seeking medical help for pregnancy issues.

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