The siblings had no idea they were related
The harrowing story of twins who were separated at birth and married each other without realizing they were brother and sister was revealed today.
When the unnamed couple realised the shocking truth about their relationship, they had their marriage annulled at a secret High Court hearing. A judge ruled the union was legally invalid.
The couple’s plight was revealed by the former Liberal Democrat MP Lord Alton, who is fighting for children to have greater rights to know the identity of their biological parents.
The peer, who raised the twins’ story during a House of Lords debate on the Human Fertilization and Embryology Bill, said: “I learned of this heartbreaking story from the High Court judge who dealt with the case.
“We were having a casual conversation about the potential problems for donor- conceived children accidentally marrying each other and he said this could also happen in naturally conceived children.”
The judge told Lord Alton that the twins had been parted at birth and adopted.
Neither knew they had a twin and when they met as adults they did not realize they were related but felt “an inevitable attraction”.
It was only after they married, according to Lord Alton, that they became aware of the “appalling” truth and sought to have their union dissolved. Marriages can be annulled in cases where there is a “prohibited degree of consanguinity” – blood relationship.
The case came before a judge, sitting in private, in the High Court Family Division where, according to Lord Alton, “he had to deal with the consequences of the marriage that they entered into and all the issues of their separation”.
No other details about the couple, their relationship, or the annulment have been made public but the peer added: “It was appalling for this couple to discover they were married to a close relative.
“And I believe the Government will leave itself open to class actions in the future if it collaborates in keeping information of this kind from children who have been donor-conceived.”
via : News Hound
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