Incest, Should it be legalised? Options

[Daria]

In Germany, there is currently a legal battle being undergone by a brother and sister who have had four children together- three of which have been put into foster care. The brother is 30 and the sister is 22 (I have just re-read the article and noticed that they "fell in love" when they first met in 2000. She would have only been 15.. hmm...) and only "met" because he was adopted by another family when he was a child.

Many people see it as a crime, but we've done nothing wrong...
We are like normal lovers. We want to have a family. Our whole family broke apart when we were younger, and after that happened, Susan and I were brought closer together

Incest is a criminal offence in Germany due to a law est. 1871. Patrick has already served a two-year sentence for committing incest and has "another jail term looming if paragraph 173 of the legal code is not overturned".

So should it be legalised? Should brothers and sisters be allowed to have children with one another? As the article points out, children of incestuous couples are far more likely to be disabled and in this family's case, their eldest child has epilepsy and learning difficulties ("but he was born two months premature"), and their other daughter has special needs.

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

But is that really a good enough reason to prevent brothers and sisters having kids? People who have CF, Muscular Distrophy and other hereditary diseases still have children and there is no law preventing them from doing so. I know it sort of reduces the possibility of genetic variation, but seeing as humans have evolved to the point where they have all sorts of technical advances to help them survive to childbearing age, regardless of any diseases or disabilities they may have, should it even be an issue?

Thoughts, people.

[Snugglebum the D...]

Snugs, is the parent-child thing what's bothering you, or are you still really unnerved by just siblings

Both bother me but the parent/child more so. I was thinking about this today and I think Secretkeeper has vocalised my thoughts quite well. It's an abuse of a position of power. Parents will always have power over their children and in many cases so will older siblings. Therefore, embarking on a sexual relationship with a family member whom you are esentially responsible for seems wrong and an abuse of a senior position.

When I refer to child abuse, I'm not just taking minors here. It is still possible to abuse your child when they are over the age of consent. I kinda' feel in these cases that the abusee (is that a word?) has actually been convinced that what is happening is either their own decision or normality.

[Phyllis]

It's an abuse of a position of power. Parents will always have power over their children and in many cases so will older siblings. Therefore, embarking on a sexual relationship with a family member whom you are esentially responsible for seems wrong and an abuse of a senior position.

I was trying to come up with a way to say exactly that.

As for Daria's hypothetical situation...I'm not sure what I would do. I am thinking I probably would end it, because anything sexual would pretty much be out of the question for me after that. I'd just be thinking "Ew...related...ewwwwwww." As it is I'm marrying someone with the same first name as my dad -- I don't need someone with his genes as well.