The Biggest Problem Seems to Be Prejudice

Here's an article about Teresa Weiler, who search for information about her biological parents and found out they were brother and sister.

Until then all she knew about her past was that she had been abandoned at birth by her mother and then spent three years in an orphanage before being adopted.

Sad. Perhaps if her mother had been supported, that wouldn't have happened. At least she was adopted.

The article then references Penny Lawrence and Garry Ryan.

But it was not only their relationship that enraged Sun readers - it was their decision to have a baby.

Even though their child could be born with mental or physical disabilities, six-weeks-pregnant Penny said she would terminate the foetus if scans showed a problem.

Every pregnancy involves risk of producing a child with mental or physical disabilities.

Today angry Teresa warns the couple that heartache and possible physical problems lie ahead for them. She has been plagued by poor health and decided to be CHILDLESS for fear she could pass on a genetic defect.

I'm sorry Teresa has physical problems. Would she rather not have been born? Most children born to consanguineous parents are okay.

"This child will undoubtedly find out the secret about Penny and Garry's relationship as they have spoken so brazenly about it in public. It will be very confusing and mentally damaging for that child."

It doesn't have to be if we can reduce prejudice against consanguinamory.

Teresa, a manager at a children's home, was left in hospital by her birth mother and spent her first three years in an orphanage in Brentwood, Essex.

From there, she was adopted by Terence and Truda Weiler and enjoyed a happy, loving childhood with two older brothers and a younger sister.

There's something to be said for that. It is a good thing she was born.

Finding this out hit me hard. The idea I was the child of incest made me feel dirty.

Why? Your parents clearly loved each other.

Social services had written that my mother was a 16-year-old unmarried waitress from Belfast.

"They named my father as her 14-year-old brother. I felt physically sick by what I read.

Why? Would it have been better if her teenaged mother had been impregnated by a stranger?

"It was a shock to see my birth mother and she was with a man who she introduced as her friend. They looked alike and I looked like both of them. To this day I believe it was her brother - my father."

If they were still together, that's saying a lot. How many relationships between teenagers last? If they had been supported more, they could have raised their daughter themselves. Teresa does have one medical issue, as the article describes, but most of the population deals with at least one medical issue. The biggest problem for her seems to be prejudice and self-loathing, unfortunately. Acceptance would go a long way to making things better.

See Ten Myths About Sibling Consanguinamory