Separated-at-birth twins marry

ImaginalDisc said:
I wasn't aware that the state had an interest in vetting the genetic compatability of potential mates. Should the same logic be applied to two unrelated people whose children would have a genetic propensity for dwarfism, or albanism?
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Well the difference is that the twins didn't know they were twins. I don't know anything about the potential genetic problems, but I do think that finding out you had a twin after having falen in love and married them would be pretty rubbish.

Having said that I'm not sure how making it easier to trace your real parents would have prevented this incident - they did find out after all, it was just a bit late at that point!
 
Lord Alton is a very, very morally conservative man with "form" on these issues. He is a pro-life campaigner, a supporter of those who believe in "Satanic Ritual Abuse", and once tried to bring in a bill ensuring that any movie not suitable for children should be banned from video or DVD release in the United Kingdom. He's a Victorian nut.

He was "told of this case by a High Court judge". Forgive me if I remain sceptical.
 
tkingdoll said:
The thing that bothers me is that a Lord is calling for a change in legislation and using an isolated, extremely rare case to support his argument.
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Standard politician behavior. What I find interesting, though, is that very often the case they use to support their argument is exaggerated, sometimes by quite a bit. So, not only are they trying to prove a generality with a specific case, they're trying to prove it with a specific case that isn't even true.
 
By the way, I was adopted and have had two different girlfriends who were also adopted. The very first thing I did on both occasions was to check their place and time of birth and ask what they knew of their natural mothers. In a jokey way, sure, but the thought always crossed my mind.

The idea that you could meet a fellow adoptee born in the same city on the same day as yourself, who presumably had some vague physical resemblance, and get as far as marriage before asking any questions strikes me as odd.
 
Kiosk said:
By the way, I was adopted and have had two different girlfriends who were also adopted. The very first thing I did on both occasions was to check their place and time of birth and ask what they knew of their natural mothers. In a jokey way, sure, but the thought always crossed my mind.

The idea that you could meet a fellow adoptee born in the same city on the same day as yourself, who presumably had some vague physical resemblance, and get as far as marriage before asking any questions strikes me as odd.
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Not to say you're wrong, but I can see Occam's Razor coming into play here and making some people lean towards "freaky coincidence" rather than "OMG we're twins separated at birth!!!11!!eleventy!!"
 
Lucky said:
My Mum's family were from the Jewish communities of Hamburg and Altona – where they all seemed to be related to each other multiple times. It's interesting to look at the Stammbaum (family tree) and see the connections. Uncle-niece marriage was legal under German law (may still be), and there's an uncle-niece couple in the Stammbaum – not my direct ancestors (they didn't have any children).
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Interesting! The great-grandparents I mentioned were Ukranian Jews.
 
tsg said:
Not to say you're wrong, but I can see Occam's Razor coming into play here and making some people lean towards "freaky coincidence" rather than "OMG we're twins separated at birth!!!11!!eleventy!!"
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I can assure you that you'd at least consider it. If you were twins - not just brother and sister, but TWINS - there would be at least a vague resemblance (unless you were Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito) to raise suspicions. If you were in a relationship and there was even the faintest chance you were siblings, I'm pretty certain it would play on your mind.
 
bridgy said:
Hard to imagine yourself in that situation I know, but if you found out your prespective husband/wife was actually your long lost brother/sister do you think you'd still want to marry and have children? I can't imagine I would.
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It's hard to imagine because most of us haven't been in the situation of having a sibling that we never meet until we're adults. We would think "eeewwww!" at the thought of marrying a sister, but that's because we are thinking of our OWN sister, and not looking at it from the other guy's point of view.

The only thing that gave them pause, if I remember correctly, was that they were worried about birth defects for their children. After being assured that the risks were just not that great, they went ahead with their relationship.
 
Kiosk said:
I can assure you that you'd at least consider it. If you were twins - not just brother and sister, but TWINS - there would be at least a vague resemblance (unless you were Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito) to raise suspicions. If you were in a relationship and there was even the faintest chance you were siblings, I'm pretty certain it would play on your mind.
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No doubt. But how far you would pursue it is the real question. I'm sure a lot of people would, but if the information isn't readily available, especially if it requires dealing with government agency red tape, I could understand some people not following it all the way through and writing the similarities off to coincidence.
 
Kiosk said:
I can assure you that you'd at least consider it. If you were twins - not just brother and sister, but TWINS - there would be at least a vague resemblance (unless you were Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito) to raise suspicions. If you were in a relationship and there was even the faintest chance you were siblings, I'm pretty certain it would play on your mind.
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Why would paternal twins look more alike than non twin, siblings?
 
Lucky said:
As reported, it doesn't suggest that it was a recent case. Not likely, because it's a long time (60s?) since twins could have been separated for adoption and not told about each other.

So, how did they meet, and how did they discover after the marriage that they were brother and sister?

Lord Alton or the judge could have made the whole thing up, but it could also be a basically true tale that's grown in the telling. How about this for a plausible scenario:
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I wasn't trying to say it was impossible. I was just pointing out that a second-hand (at best) story told by a politician who doesn't provide dates, names, places, or other necessary details (how they found out), hardly rises to the level of evidence. All I said was "color me unimpressed."
 
Kiosk said:
I can assure you that you'd at least consider it. If you were twins - not just brother and sister, but TWINS - there would be at least a vague resemblance (unless you were Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito) to raise suspicions. If you were in a relationship and there was even the faintest chance you were siblings, I'm pretty certain it would play on your mind.
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I'm sure there are several pieces of research which show that many people pick partners who bear some facial resemblance to themselves.
 
tkingdoll said:
Yeah, although incest kinda grosses me out, the arguments against it are pretty thin.
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I guess I missed class the day they ingrained the "eeeeew, incest!" lesson into us.

Although I'm not attracted to any of my relatives, it doesn't gross me out if someone else is attratced to theirs, or even acts on that attraction.

I remember wacthing a movie where two characters who had been passionately kissing were revealed to be (if I recall) brother and sister. The audience all around me let out a loud, collective "Eeewwww!!". I just don't get it.
 
ponderingturtle said:
Why would paternal twins look more alike than non twin, siblings?
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That's fraternal :), and you're right. Same as other siblings only the same age.

My wife was adopted, and I definitely thought "What if we're remotely related?" I wonder about that with anyone, what with the studies that show some made-up number like %20 of children aren't biologically their father's offspring but think they are. You get one milkman who really gets around to those housewives with hubby's on the same shift at the steel mill... bound to have some of those kids end up together.
 
Years ago, my cousin was dating a guy and she found out she was vaguely related to him. Like, fourth cousins or something. She found out when we were all at a family funeral and her boyfriend's parents turned up.

I remember her freaking out and crying for ages. She was about 16 though. She finished with him. Melodrama!
 
RSLancastr said:
I guess I missed class the day they ingrained the "eeeeew, incest!" lesson into us.
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Yes, but would you have sex with your sister if she were a robot?

tkingdoll said:
Years ago, my cousin was dating a guy and she found out she was vaguely related to him. Like, fourth cousins or something. She found out when we were all at a family funeral and her boyfriend's parents turned up.

I remember her freaking out and crying for ages. She was about 16 though. She finished with him. Melodrama!
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That seems barely related at all. I thought everybody on Earth was more closely related to Kevin Bacon that that.
 
I would think that pheromones would tend to keep people that closely related from finding one another attractive.

http://beheco.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/14/5/668

I have heard a hypothesis floated that women on birth control pills (which mimic the hormones of pregnancy) might tend to prefer people more closely related. I wonder if the lady was on hormonal birth control when she picked her husband.
 
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