Genetic Sexual Attraction

An assumption-challenging examination of the human biology of genetic sexual attraction.

The taboos and societal prejudices against incest from Oedipus through the Bible to the present day are widely assumed to have grown out of empirical observations by ancient societies of the genetic consequences of such relationships. Yet the scientific reality is that children born to siblings are less likely to be genetically damaged than the risk of children born to mothers over 40 being Downs.

While incest committed on children is rightly condemned as child sex abuse - one of the worst crimes imaginable - relations between adult siblings are less easy to condemn when the science of Genetic Sexual Attraction (GSA) is taken into account. There are many scientists who argue that, because of the powerful psychological forces involved, adult incest should be decriminalised when it involves siblings who have been separated as children and not brought up together. They point out that the genetic risks of having children in an incestuous relationship have been wildly overstated. This film explores the arguments of a growing campaign to decriminalise GSA incest in a balanced but persuasive way. Key contributors are:

A lively, attractive woman from Essex who had a 15-year relationship and a daughter with her brother. Treated as a social pariah, prosecuted and forcibly sterilised, she and her daughter, Lisa have an amazing story to tell of what happens when you break the Ultimate Taboo; when your daughter is also your niece and your father is also your uncle.
A policeman who was recently prosecuted for having a relationship with his half sister who will also take part.
A young man about to meet his birth mother for the first time.
Barbara Gonyo a mother who coined the term “Genetic Sexual Attraction” for the phenomenon she experienced when she met her separated son and first drew the phenomenon to the attention of academics and workers in the post adoption field. Today she advises and counsels many couple through her organisation “Truth Seekers In Adoption.”

Background
For 15 years, until they separated last year, Terri O’Neill and her brother Kim lived in an incestuous relationship. As is common in such cases, they had been separated in early childhood by the care system and then found each other after a gap of twenty years or so. Terri had been told as a child that her brother had died. In fact he had been adopted by the millionaire parents of Bernard Cornwell, the author of the Tom Sharpe novels.

The emotional charge of such sibling reunions is often so great that the pair fall in love. The scientific name for it is Genetic Sexual Attraction or GSA and it is well known in the adoption and child care field. There are experts in this area who argue that such cases should be decriminalised. In Holland, decriminalisation has already happened and such couples live fairly openly without prosecution. Genetic experts argue that the chances of having a genetically damaged child are less than those of a woman over 40 having a Downs child- and “you don’t prosecute women over 40 for getting pregnant”.

When Terri and Kim discovered each other’s existence and met they were both instantaneously overcome with passion for each other, in a classic case of GSA. Terri left her husband and moved in with Kim. Early on in the relationship, after they had a daughter Lisa, now 17, they were both prosecuted and convicted of incest, with Lisa’s birth certificate as the main prosecution evidence. They both received non custodial sentences but Terri was “forced” or “blackmailed” by the police at the time into being sterilised –as a condition for being allowed to carry on living with Kim. They have not been prosecuted since. From the outset their other two sisters disowned them as did Terri’s ex husband. They faced years of abuse from neighbours and daughter Lisa was bullied relentlessly at school . Now they are accepted. At the present moment Kim, who left last year after saying he finally could see Terri as a sister, still sees Terri frequently.

Genetic Sexual Attraction
Is defined as:
“GSA is most common between siblings of opposite sex who bear a close resemblance. It takes the form of an overpowering, almost electrical grip of emotion, associated with an inability to keep away from the other person and an almost primordial sense of having belonged together all their lives. The attraction gives rise to a sense of underlying shame and guilt, together with a feeling of rejection that may prevent effective communication because the emotions are too threatening to share with anyone. This may be compounded by any sexual relationship resulting from the attraction.

Particularly noted in the case of adopted children who are subsequently reunited with the biological parent or sibling of the opposite sex, seemingly because the normal bonding mechanism has been disrupted.”

Adoption counsellor Marie Griffith is convinced incest should be decriminalised: “I do believe there is a phenomenon known as "genetic sexual attraction." Seeing it in action for myself, I am unable to find a psychological reason why those involved in this type of relationship should bow to the power of the masses.”

Published on: 2003-10-11 (1652 reads)

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