Boyfriend/lover/fiance/DAD.

Trigger warning: this post deals with incest.

Ever wanted to know what it is like to date your dad?

No? Us neither.

But, one 18-year-old in the US has given a very detailed interview about her relationship with her biological dad/fiance. And she answers all of your questions. ALL OF THEM.

It is compelling reading. A warning, though: it may also may compel your body to bring some sick up into your mouth.

An 18-year-old woman, who we will call Z for convenience, has given an interview to New York Magazine’s The Science of Us. In it she details her two year relationship with her biological father. They are planning to marry. She took him to her school formal. She occasionally calls him Dad.

First, a quick note: The phenomenon of genetic sexual attraction (or GSA) is not unknown in cases where close relatives first meet as adults. The idea is that people are attracted to people who are like them. In some cases very, very like them. It has been recorded in cases where adopted children meet their biological parents or adult siblings meet for the first time. While incest is illegal in most states in the US, in New Jersey, is it legal between adults. 

In the interview, Z tells New York Magazine’s Alexa Tsoulis-Reay about her upbringing, her estrangement from her father and their reunion.

Powerful new campaign shows Disney princesses as victims of incest.

Z was born after her parents met in highschool. Z’s mum has bipolar disorder. The parents’ relationship broke down, and her father visited her occasionally until she was five. Z and her father were then apart for 12 years.

Z’s mother was strict and monitored Z’s Facebook account. Z later learned that her father had tried to contact her on Facebook a few times, but her mum had deleted the contact. Eventually, Z befriended him on Facebook when she was 17. They met in person and then became romantically involved.

Journalist, Alexa Tsoulis Reay asked what Z remembered of her father as a child:

After they made contact on Facebook, father and daughter realised that they had quite a bit in common.

During the stay with her father, the pair became closer. Z’s father was still living with his girlfriend at the time, but because Z was feeling anxious, Z’s father slept on the couch and Z slept on the floor. Things got…hard.

And then there’s the bit where they had sex.

And it was apparently pleasing (argh!)

There was a fair question from the journalist about consent at this point. Because CONSENT.

Well, you had actually known him for years…

This is why a child keeps sexual abuse a secret.

Anyway.

There were the usual housemate issues:

Yes. Dad’s ex calls Z her daughter.

There’s more sex stuff.

Anyway, now they are getting married. The bride will wear black and she’ll be given away by her grandfather, who will also be her new father-in-law.

Z will probably tell her mum. Eventually. It seems Mum didn’t catch on when Z and Dad got matching tattoos and called each other babe.

Yes, they’re planning to have kids. No, they’re not worried about genetic issues.

Everyone is pretty cool with it, it seems. Because they’re the cutest couple. At the prom.

Boyfriend, lover, fiance, but sometimes still Dad. That’s not confusing at all.

Another excellent question from the journalist. Because ABUSE.

You’ve got to feel like Mum was doing her best here…

Just in case you were wondering: Incest is illegal in all Australian states and consent is not a defence. The penalties range from 8 years (in NSW) to life imprisonment (in Queensland). You are prohibited from marrying an ancestor and descendant or sibling (including a sibling of half-blood).