Patrick Syuebing was reunited with his younger sister Susan Karolewski after more than two decades of being in foster care in what was then East Germany. They ended up having four children together
Steven White and Jane Lavender Associate Editor
03:00, 04 Feb 2026
Patrick Syuebing with his sister Susan Karolewski(Image: cas.sk)
Patrick Stübing was reunited with his younger sister Susan Karolewski following more than two decades spent in foster care in what was then East Germany.
The siblings had been separated initially when he was assaulted by their father.
Then, just six months after reconnecting with his biological family, the then-23-year-old began sharing a bedroom with Susan, 16, who has mental disabilities, following the death of their mother Ana Marie in December 2000.
Their incestuous, and illegal, relationship eventually resulted in the birth of four children, two of whom have disabilities.
The pair first mounted a legal challenge against Germany’s incest laws in 2001 and subsequently took their case to the European Court of Human Rights in 2012.
It was during this period that Patrick served two prison sentences for incest-related offences. He previously declared that he felt no guilt over his relationship with his sister.
The siblings insist they are doing nothing wrong
“We do not feel guilty about what has happened between us. We want the law which makes incest a crime to be abolished.”, reports the Mirror.
“I became head of the family and I had to protect my sister. She is very sensitive but we helped each other during this very difficult period and eventually that relationship became physical,” the Daily Mail reported back in 2007.
Despite having had a previous relationship with another woman, Patrick maintained: “We didn’t even know we were doing anything wrong when we started sleeping together.
“We didn’t think about using a condom. We didn’t know it was illegal to sleep together. Our mother would not have approved, but the only ones who should judge us now is us.”
Susan has equally stood by their union, emphasising the couple weren’t raised together after Patrick was taken from the family home at age three following a knife incident involving their late father.
She explained: “We didn’t know each other in childhood, it’s not the same for us. We fell in love as adults and our love is real. There is nothing we could do about it.
The couple say they will not be apart(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
“We were both attracted to each other and then nature took over from us. It was that simple. What else could we do? We followed our instincts and our hearts.”
Patrick has undergone sterilisation procedures in an attempt to persuade the courts to permit the pair to cohabit without facing additional jail terms.
He said: “There is no reason for them to jail me now. I do not want to go back to jail and I know we will never voluntarily leave each other. If anyone doubts our love they should just see we will not be kept apart.”
Their legal representative has contended there’s heightened risk when disabled individuals or elderly women conceive – yet these situations aren’t prohibited.
Patrick has also maintained his rights to private and family life have been breached.
Germany’s prohibition on incest traces back to legislation brought in during the Nazi period and remains unlawful in nations including here in the UK, France, Denmark, Zimbabwe and Malaysia. By contrast, the act carries the death penalty in locations such as Afghanistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Nigeria.