Incestuous Love
Patrick is looking at me, clenching his fist, his body shaking,
hes saying nothing. Susan isnt saying anything either and neither
am I. Silence can be so agonizing and theres so much tension in
the air you could almost cut it with a knife. There we are just
staring at each other.
It was a difficult interview for a story that couldnt be more
controversial.
Patrick and Susan are a couple and have four children. They are
also brother and sister and that makes their relationship illegal
under German law. Patrick and Susan didnt even know of each
others existence until Patrick was over 20 years old and Susan was
in her teens. After their mother died, they lived together and
eventually fell in love.
We just want to lead a normal life, Patrick tells me, when he
finally does manage to speak during the interview. He and Susan
appear to be afraid of the camera. I cant blame them. Weve come
into their home, are shining powerful lights in their faces and
asking them to put their whole lives out in the open for us. Lives
that have been as tough as anyone could imagine.
People harass us all the time and call us the incest couple. They
have no idea who we really are or how it all happened, Patrick
says, and then he goes on to speak about the legal ordeal hes been
put through. Hes been to jail because of the relationship with his
sister; and three of their four children have been taken away from
them by German Youth Welfare Services. Now Patrick wants to take
the struggle to get the relationship legalized to the highest
German court.
Many other European countries lifted bans on incestuous love long
ago, and there are interesting arguments on both sides of the
equation. Those who feel the ban should be kept in place say
incestuous relationships are far more likely to bring forth
children with birth defects than relationships between people that
are not siblings. But opponents of the ban say it is a violation of
couples rights to sexual freedom.
Patrick and Susan dont care about all the politics, they
say.
We really love each other a lot, and we never want to be without
each other again. Were living like a small happy family, Patrick
says. To them, in the end, thats what it comes down to: He needs
her, and she needs him
nothing more.
If s highest court decides not to take the case, Patrick will go
to jail again.
