marriageable age was set at 16 for females and 18 for males, but the age was equalised which raised the marriageable age of females to 18. If there are 'unusual and exceptional circumstances’, the marriage of one person aged 16 or 17 to another aged over 18 is possible, subject to the consent of the younger person's parents and authorisation by a court. Part II establishes the procedures required in this instance. Prior to the 1991 change, the 'unusual and exceptional circumstances' procedures applied to a girl aged 14 or 15 or a male aged 16 or 17 (wanting to marry a female aged 16 or above).[5] For many years, courts have refused to accept the applicant's state of pregnancy as a pressing consideration in deciding whether to allow the marriage.[6]