Separated twins married and had to break up

[Elvi]

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20080111/tuk-uk-britain-twins-fa6b408_2.html

Poor buggers....

Though it did spark off an interesting moral discussion with Beastgirl.
Her simple solution was for them to just not have children and I have to say that it was hard (in a case such as this, where the two had not grown up together), to argue against her reasoning.

[Humble Scribe]

Apparently in the case of first generation consanguinuity, the risk of genetic problems in children is pretty minimal anyway. The problem multiplies later on and becomes an issue with 3rd and 4th generations. So I'm told.
But I must admit my first thought was... "are they from Norfolk?"

[Sabby]

"I can't wait to meet your mother" "..." "What?"

[Elvi]

OY!
You bugger, I live in Norfolk!
(Though I'm from county Durham where we were crossed with pit ponies....*grins*)

The problem with genetics isn't really the issue here though is it?
These two, twins split up at birth, were total strangers and in this day and age, with multiple marriages, adoptions, test tube babies, I wonder how many are really undiscovered.

Of course, the logic dictates that if it is two half siblings either one or the other parent would know, but what of the mother who gives up a child for adoption, marries then has other children.
The children don't always know they are adopted and the parent/s don't always know what has happened to the children they had adopted.

[Swedish Steel]

I have to agree with Beastgirl here, actually. Let love take it's course.

[Elvi]

As I said Swede, it was a difficult thing to explain and justify.
We could get her to see how it would be 'distasteful' if they had grown up together, but she couldn't see why they had to split up when they had been strangers.

I had to agree with her when  she said that one of them should 'get done' so that they didn't have any children and that they should still be allowed to be together.
In all honesty, had that been myself and strangely (for instance), I would get divorced, make sure there was no chance of pregnancy, change our identities and simply just dissapear.

Of course we don't know about the couples morals, their religious belief or backgrounds other than the basics, so we can't really judge them either way.


Edit: Sorry had a terrible dyslexic moment, editted to make it understandible

[Mistiq]

That's...wow.  I always thought that parental twins look somewhat alike. This is sad but it leads me to wonder, dud the people who adopted these twins change thier birthdate, because meet someone with the same exact sign AND birthday is pretty rare. Just...I feel so bad for them, that kind of unfortunate fate is just not fair at all.

[Elvi]

Twins are not always identical, and deffinitely not in the case of male/female twins as they have to have come from two 'eggs', not one that splits.

Yes there may have been some resemblences, though I have seen couples who are very much like each other in appearance, some go for complete opposites when finding a partner, others as though they are comparing themselves in a mirror.

As for the birthdate...your guess is as good as mine, but I have had male friends (who could have been boyfriends) who have shared the same birthday as myself, infact in one of my classed at college there was both a girl and a boy who shared my exact birthday.   

[King_Furby]

I kind of feel sorry for the two actually. Just cause they honestly must have loved each other to marry. I can see why they were split up but i feel sorry for them. Being blindsided by that had to be a horriable experience. Now they should just disapear i would not want the two to be hassled by people more then they already have.

[Humble Scribe]

OY!
You bugger, I live in Norfolk!
(Though I'm from county Durham where we were crossed with pit ponies....*grins*)

You have my every sympathy. 

(I'm from the Black Country but living in London, ay it, ar kid. It ay arf.)

Incest is one of those great societal taboos, but it's very much a cultural thing. The ancient Egyptian royal family used to force brothers and sisters to marry to avoid 'diluting' the royal bloodline, whereas medieval Christians went to the opposite extreme and prohibited marriage if there was a common ancestor within 4 generations (I think we just stick to 2 generations these days) - meaning that in small communities it was virtually impossble to find someone you were allowed to marry. That was why I mentioned the science, Elvi - although we like to think there are rational reasons why we have this cultural taboo, they probably don't matter as much as we think, so in the end it becomes more a question of tradition vs personal freedoms.

I can't say that I feel strongly about this particular couple. I think it's a shame they were forced apart, although in the flurry of discussion this case has generated here, someone mentioned a case where a similar thing had happened, and although the brother and sister were prevented from marrying, they nevertheless still lived together as a couple, which is apparently perfectly legal.