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The twins who married each other |
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21 January 2008 |
The case of twins who married each other without realising that they were related was reported earlier this month. After they discovered that they were brother and sister the High Court agreed annul their marriage.
The case of twins who married each other without realising that they were related was reported earlier this month. After they discovered that they were brother and sister the High Court agreed annul their marriage.
This case is unusual as annulments are not usually dealt with by the High Court unless the case is complex. Marriages can be annulled if the couple are closely related, if the marriage is bigamous, or if one party was under 16 at the time of the wedding.
We don't know who the brother and sister are as their identity has been kept secret. It is thought that both brother and sister were adopted shortly after their birth by different adoptive families. In an extraordinary twist of fate, they later met and married. They did not realise that they were brother and sister until after they had married.
The issue came to light after Lord Alton raised this case when debating the Human Fertility and Embryology Bill in the House of Lords in December. The Government want to relax the rules about who can have fertility treatment. Critics of the Government's proposals for change say that if the rules about fertility treatment are further relaxed it will weaken the link between child and biological parent.
The law changed in 2005 so that children born as a result of fertility treatment where donor sperm or eggs are used can access information about their biological parents when they are 18. However, there is no legal obligation on parents who have donor conceived children to tell their children how they began life.
It is easy to understand why the parents who have children as a result of fertility treatment do necessarily want this information readily available. Yet, as more and more of us seek fertility treatment siblings marrying each other without realising that they are related may be more frequent. |
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