Page "Incest" Paragraph 37

The most public case of consensual adult sibling incest in recent years is the case of a brother-sister couple from Germany, Patrick Stübing and Susan Karolewski.

Because of violent behavior on the part of the father, the brother was taken in at the age of 3 by foster parents, who adopted him later.

At the age of 23 he learned about his biological parents, contacted his mother, and met her and his then 16 year old sister for the first time.

The now-adult brother moved in with his birth family shortly thereafter.

After their mother died suddenly six months later, the couple became intimately close, and had their first child together in 2001.

By 2004, they had four children together: Eric, Sarah, Nancy, and Sofia.

The public nature of their relationship, and the repeated prosecutions and even jail time they have served as a result, has caused some in Germany to question whether incest between consenting adults should be punished at all.

An article about them in Der Spiegel states that the couple are happy together.

According to court records, the first three children have mental and physical disabilities, and have been placed in foster care.

In April 2012, at the European Court of Human Rights, Patrick Stuebing lost his case that the conviction violated his right to a private and family life.