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Original poster

Hhhhmmm, what do we make of this then? brother and sister living together incestuously...

31 replies

AitchTwoOh · 07/03/2007 14:27

i think that forcing him to get a vasectomy is a hyuuuuuge infringement of his rights. poor devils. and the fact that their kids keep getting taken away from them seems most unfair. am i being completely wrong-headed, surely if they're not doing any harm to anyone... or are their children really likely to come out with six toes on each foot?

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Original poster
AitchTwoOh · 07/03/2007 14:28

whoops forgot the link

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greenday · 07/03/2007 14:30

Yeh, read about it yesterday in the magazines. Heard tRadio 4's interview with them this morning. Still not sure what to think of it. Makes me cringe on one hand, but on the other, I feel for them.

lilibet · 07/03/2007 14:31

I'm really not sure, they had never met each other in childhood and then met as adults so i suppose that could have happend without them knowing that they were brother and sister.

A couple of their children do have problems tho, but whether this is due to them being brother or sister is unknown

I suppose it makes for happer Chirstmas's - none of that 'do we see my family or yours'

Dior · 07/03/2007 14:31

Message withdrawn

shonaspurtle · 07/03/2007 14:33

Well, it kind of is society's greatest taboo but I guess you wouldn't necessarily have the same automatic revulsion at the prospect if you hadn't met your brother/sister until you were adults.

Apparently the risks of children having genetic defects are greatly exaggerated and it would actually take several generations of incestual relationships to cause real "inbreeding" problems. Well, that's according to a documentary I saw about it once anyway.

I don't have a problem personally with this couple and I think that taking existing children away is horribly cruel and unneccesary.

UnquietDad · 07/03/2007 14:33

I suppose mum can't embarrass them by getting the old toddler snaps out.

ComeOVeneer · 07/03/2007 14:33

It doesn't really specify why they had the children taken away though, it may not have anything to do with the fact they rerelated.

Original poster
AitchTwoOh · 07/03/2007 14:34

it's actually a recognised 'thing', where people who are reunited 'fall in love' like you do with a baby, let's say. but because they are adults they equate that with having sex. there are documented cases of reunited parents and children having incestuous affairs as adults.

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madamez · 07/03/2007 14:34

Particularly given that they only met as adults, nothing to worry about unless there's some shared genetic problem (which testing could eliminate the possiblity of anyway). Incest taboos are a) to reduce the dangers of bad genetic reinforcement and b) to prevent exploitation of people by their relatives. These two possibilities being removed, it's no one else's business.

expatinscotland · 07/03/2007 14:35

They even look alike!

Charles Darwin was married to his first cousin.

Dior · 07/03/2007 14:36

Message withdrawn

UnquietDad · 07/03/2007 14:37

Cousins aren't illegal, though, are they?

Original poster
AitchTwoOh · 07/03/2007 14:37

they do look alike, don't they?(only she's more manly somehow...)

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harpsichordcarrier · 07/03/2007 14:37

I don't think it's anyone's business but their's. the interview on Radio 4 did imply pretty strongly that the children were taken away because of their incestuous relationship and the guy has even been to prison for 2 years
waste of public money imo.

UnquietDad · 07/03/2007 14:37

MIAOW at H2O

OrmIrian · 07/03/2007 14:39

On R4 last week I'm sure it stated that the children had health problems caused by inbreeding.

I guess it shouldn't matter but I can't help feeling squeamish about it. Centuries of conditioning I suppose.

Original poster
AitchTwoOh · 07/03/2007 14:40

inbreeding. such a nasty word. really, though? after only one generation? i'm surprised by that. and anyway, why would they need to be taken away? surely their parents can look after them?

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harpsichordcarrier · 07/03/2007 14:41

to disallow it on the basis of probability of disability is, at best, rather hypocritical. let's make it illegal for women over 40 having babies then, given the high chances of a DS baby.

Bozza · 07/03/2007 14:42

I'm not sure about this. She was only 16 when they first got together and now at 22 has 4 children. Hmm can't really reconcile it.

clairemow · 07/03/2007 14:45

I read that they have 4 children and 2 or 3 (sorry can't remember which) have disabilities - it didn't specify what though. This could happen to a couple who weren't related if they happened to have a recessive gene in common, but I suppose if they are siblings it is more likely that they'll have the same recessive gene as eachother.

Tamum · 07/03/2007 14:46

It wouldn't necessarily take several generations of inbreeding to cause problems; the chances would certainly worsen, but you could get homozygosity at any time. We are all on average carriers for 10 recessive diseases, so the chances of a brother/sister pairing resulting in defects are really quite high. With my geneticist's hat on I would say that this was A Bad Idea, but with my pinko liberal one on I would say they should be left alone. I don't think taking the children into care is going to achieve anything other than to increase the chances of this happening again in the future, and that really would be a bad idea.

harpsichordcarrier · 07/03/2007 14:48

"People have said that our children are disabled, but that is wrong. They are not disabled," said Patrick.

"Eric, our eldest child, has epilepsy, but he was born two months premature, he also has learning difficulties. Our other daughter, Sarah, has special needs," Patrick said.

WanderingTrolley · 07/03/2007 14:52

I think the law is archaic here.

Societal taboo enough to stop most siblings breeding imo. Agree about waste of money.

Possibly other reasons children taken into care? They still have one with them.

She looks like him in drag, and oddly like Catherine Tate.

Earlybird · 07/03/2007 15:08

Haven't read the story -
how did they figure out they were brother and sister?
How did it come to the attention of the authorities?
How did it become a media story?

Original poster
AitchTwoOh · 07/03/2007 15:16

pmsl. read the story.

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