German Brother, Sister Who've Had 4 Children Together Fighting Incest Laws
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A German brother and sister who have four children together are calling for the country's incest laws to be abolished so that they can continue their sexual relationship.
Patrick Stubing and his sister Susan — who grew up separately — have had three of their children taken into foster care.
Two of the children have disabilities although it is not known if these are due to inbreeding or because they were born prematurely.
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Stubing spent two years in prison for incest and faces another jail term unless the legislation is overturned.
The couple's supporters said the law is archaic and harks back to the Third Reich's obsession with racial purity.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}They want Germany to follow the example of countries such as France, Belgium and the Netherlands where incest is no longer punishable.
The siblings were born into the same family but Patrick was not living with them when his sister was born.
They met for the first time in 2000 shortly before their mother died of a heart attack.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Soon they fell in love and had their first child Eric in 2002. Sarah, Nancy and Sofia were born over the next four years.
Stubing told a German newspaper that they decided to have more children after the authorities took Eric away.
"The younger children might not have been born had they not taken the first one from us," he said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A film and book are planned about the Stubings and their fight against one of Western society's oldest sexual taboos.