Monica Mares. 36, and Caleb Peterson, 19, law enforcement booking photo provided by the Curry County Detention Center in Clovis, N.M.
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36-year old Monica Mares was 16 when she gave her infant son, Carlos, up for adoption. The boy's adoptive parents changed his name and raised his as Caleb Peterson.
19-years later, Peterson met his biological mom. The two became romantically involved and have decided to get married.
Mares believes Peterson will be a great father to her other 9 children.
"At first I told Carlos that, 'I'm sorry, I don't know how you're going to react to this, but I'm your mom and you're my son' and I'm falling in love with him," Mares told The Daily Mail. "He said 'Are you really?' I said 'Yes, I am." And he said, 'You know what? I was scared to let you know, I am too.' He was too, falling in love with me. With his mom and I was falling in love with my son."
That information didn't sit well with the police in Clovis, New Mexico, where the two live.
They were arrested in February and charged with one fourth-degree felony count of incest," according to the Associated Press.
If convicted, Peterson and Mares could be sent to prison for a maximum sentence of 3 years apiece and have to cough up a $5,000 fine.
They face a trial by jury in September. Contact between the two is prohibited.
The couple has gone public in a bid to raise awareness for genetic sexual attraction (GSA).
GSA is described as incest between close relatives, such as siblings or half-siblings, a parent and offspring, or first and second cousins, who first meet as adults.
Mares says that if she's convicted, she and Peterson will move to a state with less rigorous incest laws.
However, it's illegal in almost every state. Although the punishment is not as severe in several such as Ohio, Rhode Island and New Jersey, according to SexInfo.com.
Cristina Shy, who runs www.lilysgardener.com, a support and advocacy website for related couples out of Minnesota, told The Daily Mail they should have the same rights as the LGBT community.
"It needs to be brought to the attention of everybody in the country and people need to start thinking differently," Shy said. "It was the same with gay people just a few years ago and now they can get married they are accepted. Well why not consanguinamorous people like us? We are all adults. We are not pedophiles, there's no domestic issue we are in love, we want to be together but we are related. That shouldn't be a deciding factor."
I don't care how you slice it, there are just some boundaries that aren't meant to be crossed in my opinion. Let us know what you think in the comment section below.
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