Accidental incest

Causes

People may be unaware of a kinship relationship between them in a number of circumstances. For example, artificial insemination with an anonymous donated sperm may result in offspring being unaware of any biological relations, such as paternity or half siblings. To reduce the likelihood of accidental incest, fertility clinics usually limit the number of times that a donor's sperm may be used.{{cite news | access-date = 23 March 2011 | access-date = 23 March 2011 | access-date = 23 March 2011

Taiwan allows those conceived by artificial means to find out if they are related to a person they are considering marrying.{{cite news | access-date = 23 March 2011

Accidental incest may also arise in the following situations:

• Children separated from their family at birth
• Child abandonment{{cite book
• Non-paternity event
• Sexual exploration

Genetic sexual attraction is an unproven hypothesis, commonly considered pseudoscience, offered as an explanation for cases of sexual attraction and relations between adults who were not aware of their close blood relations.{{cite web | access-date = 16 August 2020

Notable cases

• In 2008, during a debate on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 in the House of Lords, Lord Alton of Liverpool claimed that a British brother and sister, who were twins separated at birth, married without knowing of their relationship. According to Lord Alton, the relationship was discovered soon after their wedding, and the marriage was annulled. The case was raised regarding whether adoptions should be kept secret. Questions were raised about whether the story is actually true, as Lord Alton was known to oppose the act due to its provision allowing the creation and use of animal-human hybrid stem cells for medical purposes.
• An engaged couple in South Africa, who had been together for five years and were expecting a child, discovered that they were brother and sister just before their wedding. They were raised separately and met as adults in college. Just before the wedding, their parents met and they came to realize that they were siblings. The couple broke off the relationship after the discovery.

In fiction

• The plot and eventual climax of Oedipus Rex revolves around accidental incest. Oedipus, raised by an adoptive mother who he believes is his biological mother, is given a prophecy that he will someday marry his mother. As Oedipus believes this is referring to his adoptive mother, not his biological mother, he runs away and gets caught up in the politics of Thebes and ends up marrying the recently widowed queen of Thebes, Jocasta. At the climax of the play it is revealed to both characters and the audience that Oedipus is Jocasta's son and they have been accidentally committing an incestuous relationship.
• In Daniel Defoe's novel Moll Flanders (1722) the title character, having been adopted at the age of three, unwittingly marries her half-brother and has three children by him before meeting her mother-in-law who she discovers to be her own biological mother, making her husband her half-brother.
• The manga Koi Kaze (2001) is about the incestuous relationship between brother and sister, Koshiro and Nanoka. Koshiro's romantic attraction to Nanoka is initiated when neither sibling yet knows about their blood relation.
• In Oldboy (2003) and its 2013 remake, the protagonist has an intimate incestuous relationship with his daughter. He does not recognize her, as he was abducted and locked in a small room for 15 years (20 years in the remake).

References

References

1. "Unknowing twins married, lawmaker says". CNN.
2. Sabater, Liza. "Accidental Incest: Twins Separated at Birth Marry". Culture Kitchen.
3. Henley, Jon. (15 January 2008). "Did a pair of twins really get married by mistake?". The Guardian.
4. (4 November 2020). "Expectant South African Couple Discover They Are Brother and Sister". Fox News Channel.