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Regarding Mary's perpetual virginity, I'd like to bring to mind some food for thought. In Matthew 1:18-25 the topic is the birth of Jesus. In my NAB translation it states:

"Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.' All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
'Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,'
Which means 'God is with us.' When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. He had no relations with her until she bore a son, and he named him Jesus."

I have a parallel Bible in which the different translations say much the same thing. A few words are different, but the meaning remains intact.

So, here's my explanation for Mary's perpetual virginity. I tried to picture being Joseph, discovering that this lovely young lady he's engaged to has gotten herself pregnant! Even in our day this brings about much shame, but in Joseph's time, the consequences were even worse. Stoning to death was the punishment for adultery. (Check Deuteronomy 22:13-29 for the laws in place at this time for the Jews.) So it was pretty serious business to fool around before you were legally married.

Now, imagine that this young lady (do we dare call her a lady given her circumstances?) tells Joseph that she didn't have sex with anyone, that an angel greeted her strangely, and told her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God." (from Luke 1: 35). Wouldn't you think Joseph is just saying to himself, "Oh, man! This is not good! This girl is nuts!" or something along those lines. He's wondering what he should do. He wants to believe her, but it seems preposterous! He considers himself a good, faithful, law-abiding Jew, and he thought Mary was one, too! He knows she loves the Lord, but...so he decides to quietly divorce her so that at least he can go on with his life, and well, who knows what will become of her?

Luckily Joseph then has a dream in which the angel of the Lord comes to him and confirms all that Mary has told him about the true Father of her child. It's a pretty wild story, but it seems to be verified. Wow, Mary's baby is going to be the Son of God! The Son of God! Can you believe it? He goes ahead and marries Mary and it tells us in scripture that "He had no relations with her until she bore a son..." Some translations go so far as to tell us it is Mary's first-born. Now I know some of you may be shouting with glee at the mention of the word "until" because you think that proves your point. But it doesn't. It signifies that Jesus was not born of a human father (Joseph) and that Mary had had no children before Jesus. "Until" refers to the period of time leading up to the event in question, so that the paternity of Jesus is not in doubt. Otherwise St. Matthew would use the words "until AFTER she bore a son", and that's not what he says. "Until" does not give an indication of what happens "after", it signifies what happened "before".

But just for grins, let's take a look at Mary and Joseph's relationship after Jesus is born. Again I ask you to put yourself in Joseph's shoes. Here he is with this beautiful young VIRGINAL wife who has given birth to a beautiful little boy, all because of what these angels have told them. They are not at their comfy home in Nazareth, they are in Bethlehem. The baby Jesus is born in this little nook of a space where animals get food and shelter. Angels start singing, and then shepherds arrived. Soon they are visited by some wise men (maybe they were kings?) who brought them lovely gifts. After the wise men leave, another angel appears to Joseph telling him to take Mary and the baby to Egypt, because they are in danger from King Herod. Well, Joseph must be going just about crazy with how directly God is coming into his life, but he seems to go along with everything the angels tell him. Surely he must have a very strong sense that Mary is a particularly special woman who is deeply loved by God, in order to bear His Son.

My big point is this: if you have ever had sexual relations with another person, you know how intimate it can be. I don't need to go into any of the nitty gritty details here, suffice to say, that I simply cannot believe that any man, as holy as he himself might be, could actually bring to fruition following through on sexual intercourse with a young woman who, though a virgin, got pregnant and bore the Son of God. If you think Joseph could have, then I think you do not hold the Lord in as high esteem as He should be held. Don't you think that part of the reason people in that time did not believe that Jesus was the Son of God is because that is a difficult concept to understand?

Flame away if you want to, but don't expect me to respond. This is my opinion. You can have yours.