GERMANY:Germany's highest court has confirmed that it will rule later this year on whether a law outlawing incest discriminates against a brother and sister couple.
Patrick Stübing (30) and Susan Karolewski (24) have had three children together, two of whom have physical and mental disabilities. They continue to live together as a couple although, as a consequence, their children have been put in foster care and Stübing has served time in prison.
With another jail sentence looming, his lawyer appealed to the constitutional court that the 1871 law banning incest breaches the equal treatment provision of the German constitution.
The law is intended to prevent the genetic defects that occur in every second or third child born from siblings. The couple's lawyer will argue that by not banning all couples with genetic conditions or hereditary diseases from having children, they are being discriminated against.
Stübing's mother put him up for adoption when he was four. Seven years ago, when he sought her out, he also met the 17-year- old sister he never knew he had. Ms Karolewski says she never remembers being told that this stranger was her brother.
Six months later, their mother died of an apparent heart attack and, a year after their first meeting, Ms Karolewski gave birth to a son. The baby was given to a foster family and Stübing was given a one-year suspended jail sentence.
Ms Karolewski became pregnant a second, then a third, time. Stübing was given another sentence and agreed to a vasectomy in 2004. The couple say they have never talked about being siblings and want to be left in peace as a happy, loving couple.
Court documents suggest a more disturbing story. A psychological assessment describes Stübing as an "instable and egoistic" man, who "exploited the naivety and inexperience of his sister".
Ms Karolewski is described as developmentally challenged and often unaware of what is happening around her. Now the couple is at the centre of a media circus, with a PR adviser who charges €500 for interviews.
"Susan Karolewski, it seems, cannot decide anything for herself. Everyone around her is deciding for her and they are all out for what they can get from her," said a constitutional court source. "But this is not simply an ethical question. It is a constitutional matter: the verdict will be closely watched and could have huge implications."