Perpetual Virginity of Mary

The doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary expresses the Virgin Mary's "real and perpetual virginity even in the act of giving birth to Jesus the Son of God made Man". According to the doctrine, Mary was ever-virgin (Ancient Greek: ἀειπαρθένος aeiparthenos) for the whole of her life, making Jesus her only biological son, whose conception and birth are held to be miraculous.

By the fourth century, the doctrine had been widely supported by the Church Fathers, and by the seventh century it had been affirmed in a number of ecumenical councils. The doctrine is part of the teaching of Catholicism and Anglo-Catholics, as well as Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy, as expressed in their liturgies, in which they repeatedly refer to Mary as "ever virgin".

Some early Protestant reformers such as Martin Luther supported the doctrine. However, later Reformed teaching largely abandoned it. The doctrine of perpetual virginity is, however, currently maintained by some Anglican and Lutheran theologians.