Separated at birth and later in marriage

Independent:

Twins adopted by separate parents soon after birth later fell in love and married, unaware they were related, it emerged yesterday.

The couple, who have been granted anonymity, had their marriage annulled at a special High Court hearing, where judges ruled that the union had never been legally valid.

The case emerged during a debate in the House of Lords yesterday when the pro-life campaigner Lord Alton of Liverpool raised the couple's plight to highlight what he said were deficiencies in the Human Embryology and Tissues Bill, currently making its way through Parliament.

The couple, who were conceived normally, were adopted by different parents and separated soon after birth. They were never told they were twins and did not discover the truth until after their wedding.

Lord Alton, who learnt of the case from a High Court judge, is concerned the Bill, which makes it easier for lesbian and gay couples to have "test-tube" babies, weakens the rights of a child to know their father.

He said: "[The brother and sister] met later in life and felt an inevitable attraction, and the judge had to deal with the consequences of the marriage and all the issues of their separation.

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It sounds like an interesting case study for the books on attraction. The case does not represent the classic incest situation where one party may take advantage of another. I am not sure I understand how it relates to Lord Alton's point either.