Why Vietnamese Women Are Buying Grooms (7 photos)

A wedding is traditionally seen as the joyful union of two people in love. In Vietnam, traditional celebrations span two days. Despite the bride's early pregnancy, relatives enthusiastically offer their congratulations. Everything looks perfectly normal, just like at any other wedding. Yet behind this festive facade lies a pressing issue facing Vietnamese society.





Playing House

You might be surprised to learn that the happy couple met just the day before the ceremony. Even the groom's "relatives" are meeting one another for the first time. That is because half of the guests at the wedding, including the groom, are hired actors. Everyone is following a pre-arranged, paid script. The groom acts deeply in love, while his "parents" raise heartfelt toasts to the newlyweds.



In recent years, fake weddings have become increasingly popular. Vietnamese women aren't hiring a "husband for rent" to help out around the house. They rent grooms to protect their reputation and remain "respectable" in the eyes of society. Marriage agencies now offer a wide selection of fake grooms and temporary husbands. In Vietnam, staged weddings aren't a passing fad—they are a desperate necessity.

When Children Aren't Welcome

Local tradition heavily stigmatizes out-of-wedlock births. An unwed mother in Vietnam quickly becomes a social outcast, bringing shame upon her entire family. As a result, she is often banished to a remote village, far from public view. For many, the only way to avoid this disgrace is to end an unwanted pregnancy.





Vietnam leads Asian nations in abortion rates. On average, a woman of childbearing age here undergoes at least two or three abortions in her lifetime. Nearly half of all pregnancies are unwanted. Despite widespread awareness of birth control, abortion remains common. After three or four procedures, women reach a critical point where doctors refuse to perform any more to avoid serious health risks.



At one point, grim statistics meant that an unborn child had only a 50/50 chance of being delivered. Previously, an unmarried woman who became pregnant faced a stark choice: live as an outcast or undergo an abortion. Marriage agencies offered a more humane alternative. Now, Vietnamese women can experience the joy of motherhood without carrying the burden of social stigma.

Grooms for Rent

Pregnant women turn to marriage agencies to solve their predicament. Things move quickly while the pregnancy is still early and unnoticeable. Marriage agencies offer packages for every budget, with candidates to suit every preference and background. The price depends on the level of service required.



A budget option only covers the groom's presence at the wedding ceremony. For an extra fee, the fake husband will occasionally make public appearances with his "wife" and attend family gatherings—in short, maintaining the illusion of a happy marriage. A full-service package can cost the bride up to $4,500.

The bride meets the groom and his "parents" just before the wedding. Naturally, they are all actors or agency employees. Everyone involved memorizes the script and their assigned names. They also craft a believable back-story to fool the wedding guests. To the outside world, they appear to be a happy groom and his loving family.



The ceremony is planned so that any legal paperwork—or lack thereof—remains strictly private. The absence of an actual marriage license is a closely guarded secret. At the agency, the bride simply signs a service contract and pays the fee. Naturally, there is no legal marriage taking place. The agency is simply putting on a convincing theatrical performance.

Public Opinion

Despite criticism, fake weddings remain in high demand. Agencies defend their business by claiming they are merely fulfilling a market need. Vietnamese women view a staged wedding as the lesser of two evils, and their families are willing to pay hefty agency fees just to spare their daughters from disgrace. Otherwise, the local community would ostracize them forever.



Many women justify fake weddings as a way to avoid abortion. A staged ceremony allows them to experience motherhood while keeping their social standing intact. An entire generation of children born under the cover of fake marriages is now growing up in Vietnam. And their mothers are convinced that without these staged weddings, their children would never have been born.