I can't believe you're being voted down. The idea that marriage is solely for the purpose of childbearing is patently absurd. Marriage is a lifelong partnership with a myriad of benefits and responsibilities, some of which are recognized and codified by the state. The state also recognizes that marriage provides enormous good to society, not only child care, but also care of the aging, the unemployed and the infirm. It is also a partnership that is deeper, longer lasting and more important to society than that between any lawyer/barber/personal trainer and client.