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I now pronounce you; . . . brother and sister??
Topic Started: Jan 12 2008, 03:00 PM (144 Views)
Optimistic
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HOLY CARP!!!
Posting this in MS's absence. ^_^

Twins unwittingly got married in Britain

By THOMAS WAGNER, Associated Press Writer Fri Jan 11, 9:31 PM ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080112/ap_on_...n_married_twins

LONDON - Twins who were separated at birth got married without realizing they were brother and sister, a lawmaker said, urging more information be provided on birth certificates for adopted children. A court annulled the British couple's union after they discovered their true relationship, Lord David Alton said.

"Everyone has a right to knowledge about their lineage, genealogy and identity. And if they don't, then it will lead to cases of incest," Alton told The Associated Press during a telephone interview Friday.

Alton first revealed details of the unusual case last month during a five-hour debate about a bill that would change regulations about human embryology.

"I was recently involved in a conversation with a High Court judge who was telling me of a case he had dealt with," Alton said according to a transcript of the Dec. 10 debate. "It involved the normal birth of twins who were separated at birth and adopted by separate parents.

"They were never told that they were twins. They met later in life and felt an inevitable attraction, and the judge had to deal with the consequences of the marriage that they entered into and all the issues of their separation."

Alton gave no additional details and would not reveal the name of the judge who told him about the case.

The High Court's Family Division declined to discuss or confirm Alton's account about the twins.

Alton, an independent legislator who works at Liverpool's John Moores University, said the siblings' inadvertent marriage raises the wider issue of the importance of strengthening the rights of children to know the identities of their biological parents, including kids who were born through in vitro fertilization.

Under British law, only a mother has to be named on a birth certificate. Such certificates also are not required to identify births that result from IVF or to identify the sperm donor.

In addition, British law does not require parents to ever tell children that they were the result of donated sperm.

Alton believes this should be changed.

Alton said he favors an amendment to the Human Fertility and Embryology bill — which is still being debated in the House of Lords — that would require birth certificates of children born from donated sperm to say that and to identify the genetic father.

Referring to the twins' case, he said: "If you start trying to conceal someone's identity, sooner or later the truth will come out. And if you don't know you are biologically related to someone, you may become attracted to them and tragedies like this may occur."

- - - - -

I find it amazing that they didn't uncover enough clues earlier on in their relationship to lead them to this discovery. :hair:
PHOTOS

I must have a prodigious quantity of mind; it takes me as much as a week, sometimes, to make it up.
- Mark Twain


We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
-T. S. Eliot
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George K
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Finally
It's really nice to see someone pick up the ball when those who usually do a job aren't around to do it. That's the spirit of community that brings us back. That's the sense of volunteerism - that "I'll do it, sir!" attitude - that inspires us.

Thank you, Optimistic, for stepping up to the plate.

:thumb:
A guide to GKSR: Click

"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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Optimistic
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HOLY CARP!!!
I aim high in life, George, I really do. :lol:
PHOTOS

I must have a prodigious quantity of mind; it takes me as much as a week, sometimes, to make it up.
- Mark Twain


We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
-T. S. Eliot
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Frank_W
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Resident Misanthrope
Definition of awkward, for sure!

:hair:
Anatomy Prof: "The human body has about 20 sq. meters of skin."
Me: "Man, that's a lot of lampshades!"
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George K
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Finally
It's like the Polish guy who went to a whorehouse and found his wife!
A guide to GKSR: Click

"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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Frank_W
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Resident Misanthrope
No... No, I'm pretty sure this is a hell of a lot worse.

:lol2:
Anatomy Prof: "The human body has about 20 sq. meters of skin."
Me: "Man, that's a lot of lampshades!"
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Mikhailoh
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
You can see why they liked each other - so much in common.
Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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Axtremus
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HOLY CARP!!!
The proposed change is too cumbersome and can have too many unintended consequences. We know enough about genetics these days that we can run a DNA tests to determine whether any two individuals are sufficiently related to each other such that the risk of homozygosity increases for their offspring should they choose to reproduce with each other.

It'd be much simpler to advise any two persons wishing to procreate with each other to go do a genetic test, get an assessment on how high the homozygosity risk is, and let them make their own decision with that information.
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justme
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HOLY CARP!!!
Optimistic
Jan 12 2008, 07:00 PM
Posting this in MS's absence. ^_^


You miss her, too! :lol:
"Men sway more towards hussies." G-D3
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katie
Fulla-Carp
Frank_W
Jan 12 2008, 05:04 PM
No... No, I'm pretty sure this is a hell of a lot worse.

:lol2:

Gah!
Like way worse!

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