2,214. Taking a Woman's Word Regarding a Man's Status

Hilchos Issurei Biah 18:13

Let’s say that it’s known that an unmarried woman was intimate with a man who then left. She is asked the nature of the man with whom she was intimate and if she says that he is of fit status, she is taken at her word. Even if she’s visibly pregnant, we ask her the nature of the father and if she says the father is of fit status, she is taken at her word and is permitted to marry a kohein.

Hilchos Issurei Biah 18:14

The previous halacha is only the case when the place where she was intimate was on a main road or in a carriage in the fields where many people pass, most of those who pass are of fit status, and most of the residents of the city from which those who pass originate are of fit status. The Sages “raised the bar” when it came to establishing lineage, with the result that two majorities are required. However, if most of the passersby would disqualify her – i.e., they were non-Jewish, mamzeirim, etc. –  then even if most of the residents of the city from which they originate were fit, we are concerned about her status because she might have been intimate with someone who would disqualify her. Accordingly, the proper course of action would be for her not to marry a kohein, though if she did marry a kohein, they need not divorce.