Berlin, Germany: A man in Germany and his younger sister fall in love after meeting each other since they were separated since childhood. Feelings of love that continues with sexual contact to have four children.
Although the story of the incest or forbidden love of these two blood brother-sister shocked the public, both felt innocent and vowed to stay together for their children.
Susan Karolewski is reunited with her older brother, Patrick Stuebing, 20 years after he fled their abusive home when he was adopted at the age of three, in former East Germany.
But just six months after their birth mother died, the couple, then aged 16 and 23, described how their fondness for each other turned into an illicit sexual relationship.
The couple went on to have four children, two of whom were severely disabled. Patrick is serving two prison terms after being found guilty of incest.
The couple sparked public outcry when the relationship came to light in 2001 and vowed to challenge Germany’s incest laws that make sex between siblings illegal.
In 2012, Patrick appealed to the Court of Human Rights in an attempt to seal their shock union by claiming he and Susan had a right to family life.
Speaking at the time, Patrick: “We don’t feel guilty about what has happened between us.
“We want the law that makes incest a crime to be abolished,” he said.
Patrick was born into a struggling family in 1977 in Leipzig and is one of eight children.
At the age of three, he was raised after being attacked with a knife by his alcoholic father. Patrick was adopted by his adoptive parents, nearly 100 miles away in the city of Potsdam.
His younger sister, Susan, was born in 1984 the day their parents’ divorce was finalized. Susan, who is mentally handicapped, grew up in the same house as her runaway brother and was poorly educated, barely able to read and write.
Some of the six brothers and sisters died after being born with disabilities, while others died at the age of 7 years.
The couple finally met in 2000 when Patrick was looking for his biological family but their relationship improved just six months after their mother, Ana Marie, died of a heart attack.
Susan became very dependent on her sister and was described by a local reporter as an obsessive nail-biter with a simple way of speaking.
Susan was just 16 years old when she and Patrick, then 23, first began a disturbing incestuous relationship. It started when the two siblings started sharing a room. Speaking to Mail Online in 2007, Patrick said:
“We both stayed up late talking to each other about our hopes and dreams,”
Susan said:
“We didn’t know each other in childhood, it wasn’t the same for us. We fell in love as adults and our love was real. There was nothing we could do about it,” “We were both attracted to each other and nature took over from us. As simple as that. What else can we do?” “We follow our instincts and our hearts.”
Said Susan In October 2001
Susan was pregnant with her first child and gave birth to a severely deformed baby boy, named Erik. But a nurse became suspicious and contacted German police before Patrick received a suspended one-year prison sentence for incest and Susan, 17, still being treated as a teenager, was placed in care.
The couple continued to meet in secret and Susan, covered her belly in baggy clothes then they had three more children, a daughter; Sarah, who was also born with a disability, as well as Nancy and Sophia.
Patrick was jailed for 10 months for his second incest sentence and then another two and a half years after being convicted a third time. The couple denied that their children were born with disabilities due to their incestuous relationship.
Speaking in 2007, Patrick said:
“Two of our children are disabled but that doesn’t always have anything to do with the fact that we are siblings. There are disabled people in our family. We have six brothers and sisters who don’t survive in some cases because they are disabled,”
Patrick explained.
While Patrick was behind bars, Susan told reporters that she couldn’t live without him despite being pregnant with her fifth child with another man. But the mother of five gave up her rights to the child before the baby left to live with his father.
Patrick had a vasectomy in 2004 and is seeking to change a German law that makes incest illegal in a bid to keep himself out of prison. But in 2008 Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court upheld the law and rejected his appeal.
In 2012 Patrick also appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, saying the couple had a right to family life and privacy. Again the appeal was rejected after the court believed the couple had been treated fairly by German authorities.
The couple often visited their son; Erik, at his foster home and sensationally claims that if their first child is not taken, they will have no more children. Patrick said:
“When you see your child being cared for by someone else when they should be with you, it’s hard for any parent to bear. So if he’s disabled, yes, that’s the reason we have to be able to take care of him.”
Said Patrick Quoted from The Sun
Speaking of vasectomy, Patrick said:
“There is no reason for them to imprison me now. I don’t want to go back to prison and I know we will never voluntarily leave each other. If anyone doubts our love, they should see that we will not be separated”
Patrick Said
In 2014 the German Ethics Council made a surprising change and voted to allow incest between siblings. They claimed the risk of disability was insufficient to warrant the law after reviewing the case of the German couple.
However, the law still in force in Germany makes incest between siblings illegal. The law carries a maximum imprisonment of two years or a fine. It is believed that the couple Patrick and Susan still live together in eastern Germany.
