title: Is there a way to avoid self-closing tags when using XML Serialization?
body: <p>I am working with VB.NET and I am facing a problem with XML serialization. When empty values exists in the object I am serializing, the XML file contains the following tags:</p>
  
  <pre><code>&lt;tagName/&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>instead of:</p>
  
  <pre><code>&lt;tagName&gt;&lt;/tagName&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I know that it's the same, but I want the start tag to close appropriately.</p>