POST-ADOPTION INCEST AND PHENOTYPIC MATCHING - EXPERIENCE, PERSONAL MEANINGS AND BIOSOCIAL IMPLICATIONS

Recent changes in British law have enabled adults who were adopted whe n young to trace their biological relatives. The reported frequency of incestuous sentiments and relationships in these reunions, together w ith the individual experiences and the meanings which are attached to them, challenge fundamental assumptions of both Westermarck's and Freu d's theories. Post-adoption incest is characterized experientially by a romantic search for attachment followed by a recognition of oneself in the other. The question of incest has been fundamental to biosocial theories of individual and cultural development. Some revisions are p roposed, principally that adult sexual interests remain constrained bo th by early attachments and later phenotypic matching, reinforced by p ersonal contingencies and cultural rules.