You are missed my dear.
Posted on 03/07/2007 11:32:08 AM PST by Irontank
At their home in Leipzig, Patrick Stuebing and Susan Karolewski are in the kitchen, playing with a young toddler. They share a small flat in an east German tower block on the outskirts of the city. It looks like an ordinary family scene, but Patrick is Susan's brother and they are lovers.
"Many people see it as a crime, but we've done nothing wrong," said Patrick, an unemployed locksmith.
"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," he said.
Patrick, who is 30 years old, was adopted and, as a child, he lived in Potsdam.
He did not meet his mother and biological family until he was 23. He travelled to Leipzig with a friend in 2000, determined to make contact with his other relatives.
He met his sister Susan for the first time, and according to the couple, after their mother died, they fell in love. "When I was younger, I didn't know that I had a brother. I met Patrick and I was so surprised," said Susan, who is 22.
She says she does not feel guilty about their relationship.
"I hope this law will be overturned," Susan said.
"I just want to live with my family, and be left alone by the authorities and by the courts," she went on, in a hardly audible voice.
Jail sentence
Patrick and Susan have been living together for the last six years, and they now have four children.
The authorities placed their first son, Eric, in the care of a foster family, and two other children were also placed in care.
"Our children are with foster parents. We talk to them as often as possible, but the authorities have taken away so much from us," said Susan.
"We only have our little daughter, Sofia, who is living with us," she said.
Incest is a criminal offence in Germany. Patrick Stuebing has already served a two-year sentence for committing incest and there is another jail term looming if paragraph 173 of the legal code is not overturned.
The couple's lawyer, Endrik Wilhelm, has lodged an appeal with Germany's highest judicial body, the federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe, in order to overturn the country's ban on incest.
"Under Germany's criminal code, which dates back to 1871, it is a crime for close relatives to have sex and it's punishable by up to three years in prison. This law is out of date and it breaches the couple's civil rights," Dr Wilhelm said.
"Why are disabled parents allowed to have children, or people with hereditary diseases or women over 40? No-one says that is a crime.
"This couple are not harming anyone. It is discrimination. And besides, we must not forget that every child is so valuable," said Dr Wilhelm.
The couple's case is controversial and it has prompted a heated debate in the media.
"We need this law against incest in Germany and in the whole of Europe," said Professor Juergen Kunze, a geneticist at Berlin's Charite Hospital.
"It is based on long traditions in Western societies, and the law is here for a good reason," said Prof Kunze.
"Medical research has shown that there is a higher risk of genetic abnormalities when close relatives have a child together. When siblings have children, there is a 50% chance that the child will be disabled," he said.
Patrick and Susan say they have no other choice but to fight the current law.
"I have read that some doctors claim that children born to siblings could be disabled, but what about disabled parents who have children, or older parents?" asked Patrick.
"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.
Ruling soon
The couple claim they have received a lot of support from friends and neighbours.
"When we go out to the supermarket, people recognise us and many have told us that they support our legal challenge," said Patrick.
"We would like society to recognise us, as any other normal couple," he said.
In 2004, Patrick voluntarily underwent a vasectomy.
"It's legal for the couple to live together, and to share a bed. But they are breaking the law once they have sex. If there are no more children, then who will be able to prove that they are a couple?" asked their lawyer.
Dr Wilhelm said a ruling was expected in the next few months.
"We've already heard that the vice-president of the Constitutional Court said that there will be a 'fundamental discussion' about this issue in Germany," said Dr Wilhelm.
"Many criminal law experts say that we are right and I'm confident that my clients will win their case. The law against incest is based on very old moral principles. The law was abolished in France, it's about time it should be scrapped here in Germany as well."
Ewwwww. Just...ewwwwwwww.
Sickening ... but not surprising. Just another product of the breakdown of the family in the Western world. When society offers no rules and "freedom" comes to equal license, why is anyone surprised that some idiot will stand up and say, "Why can't I marry my sister, d@mn it!?"
Good laugh. I'm not sure everyone got the indeundo.
Angelina Jolie has been suspect with her brother James Haven after they passionately kissed at the 2000 Oscars.
This is sick!!!I love my brothers but never enough to marry them...What are the people in this world doing..How long will it be before God says he has had enough?
Getting into one-eye country, there, aren't you?
Give her a mustache and that's a MAN baby!
*snerk*
However, the article does raise an interesting point. The law is ostensibly motivated by concern for the potential progeny. But then, if one were consistent (I know, how likely is that?), shouldn't the same concern require general genetic testing of prospective parents and, where there are likely health concerns, reproduction be prohibited? And conversely, suppose close relatives were tested and the likelihood of defects was very low, how could such a union be opposed?
Sterilize one of them and let them go.
I have an older cousin who is recently divorced..shes related to me on my mothers side..
I have an uncle who was recently widowed..hes my dad's brother..
I always kind of thought my cousin and my uncle should hook up..
"This is my cousin, Aunt Darlene...and it would make my Uncle John my cousin too."
If nothing else, it would give us something to talk about at parties...
Or if brother or sister were past child bearing age? Or same sex siblings?
Ick - that was really more than I wanted to know about them. Just let them move to West Virgina, and no one will care.
I think the ACLU will skip incest and go right on to pedophilia.
You are missed my dear.
Maybe I missed it but I didn't think that was the issue here. But certainly one couldn't oppose those based on the logic behind this law.
I remember Rick's comments well and thought they were a bellwether at the time. No wonder the world has sought to bring him down. Truth cannot be tolerated.
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