AUSTRLIA:AN AUSTRALIAN father and daughter who have conceived an apparently healthy child are being monitored by police and social services after going public about their incestuous relationship.
John Deaves (61) and his daughter Jenny (39) say they want to be treated as an ordinary couple but their case has sparked outrage. It has been revealed in court documents that their previous child died from a congenital heart defect a few days after birth.
The couple, who have pleaded guilty to incest and been banned by a judge from having sexual contact, appeared on a television news show in Australia to tell their story. They were shown with their nine-month-old daughter Celeste, who they said was fit and well.
"John and I are in this relationship as consenting adults," Ms Deaves told the Nine Network. "We are just asking for a little bit of respect and understanding."
Mr Deaves was married to his daughter's mother 40 years ago but she divorced him while he was in prison for armed robbery. Ms Deaves did not see her father again until eight years ago when she was married and had two children.
She said there was an immediate physical attraction and that two weeks after meeting the couple had sex. Ms Deaves described the relationship with her father as being like "a sexual relationship with any other man".
Her father, who was also married at the time, admitted that initially he thought the relationship was wrong. "Of course I knew it was illegal, but so what?" he said. "Emotions take over."
The couple, who both left their spouses, were investigated by the Department of Families and Communities and both made full admissions when questioned by police.
Last month a judge acknowledged their relationship was a "mutually consensual union" and said they could still see each other but that they were banned from having sex. He said during sentencing he took into account the high risk of congenital defects of children born from incestuous relationships and the psychological harm that could be caused to children of such families.
There have been calls, however, for the couple's baby and Ms Deaves' two other children, who live with them, to be put in care.
Psychologists say biologically related people can feel "genetic sexual attraction" but incest is taboo in most countries because of the health risks to children born of such unions.
- (Guardian service)
