It’s a union that comes close to breaking the ultimate taboo. A woman yesterday tied the knot with her stepson – after fighting for months with French authorities for the right to marry.
Elisabeth Lorentz, 48, finally married Eric Holder, who is three years her junior, in the parish church in the small village of Dabo in Alsace-Lorraine, north-east France.
Although it’s not quite an Oedipus complex, the complex story behind their marriage is nonetheless almost worthy of Sophocles – although there is yet hope it won’t end in tragedy.
Ms Lorentz met Mr Holder’s father in 1989, when she was 24 years old. The couple had a daughter in 1997 – she is Mr Holder’s half-sister, but also his goddaughter. Mr Holder also had a daughter at around the same time.
Ms Lorentz married Mr Holder’s father in 2003, but they separated three years later. Ms Lorentz told French media her former husband instigated the break up.
‘I was not expecting it, it was a shock,’ she said. ‘I was an adult so I made do. But our daughter who was nine-years-old felt the separation very badly. She cried every day.
‘That’s when Eric was a great support for us and our relationship evolved.’
Mr Holder, who says he did his best to comfort his half-sister, who is also is goddaughter and now his step-daughter, added: ‘When my father left my mother, I felt abandoned. I knew how she felt.’
With Mr Holder and Ms Lorentz’s friendship soon developing into a love affair, it wasn’t long before he proposed.
But quickly they ran into trouble with French law, which prohibits all unions between stepchildren and step-parents – even former ones.
The couple pleaded their case through the courts right up to the Elysee Palace, only to receive a signed letter from President Francois Hollande last year reconfirming that such marriages are banned.
They finally obtained the right to marry from a local court in north-east France in June. The prosecutor’s office opposed the decision but did not appeal.
‘At last, it’s the big day! I simply hope that our story will be useful to other couples in our situation, because I know there are some,’ said Ms Lorentz.
She has previously insisted that their relationship has been totally accepted by their family, including their children.
‘Eric’s father, who is also my ex-husband agrees perfectly our history. Our girls too. They have almost the same age and consider themselves sisters. We never differentiate between them. Moreover, they will both be bridesmaids at our wedding,’ she told Le Républicain Lorrain.
The ex-husband of the bride, who is also the father of the groom, was to be among the 100 or so guests at the civil and religious ceremonies in Dabo.
‘He has always supported us,’ Ms Lorentz said.
Source: Daily Mail
