A man who was adopted as a baby caused a stir within his family and later across the nation by deciding to leave his spouse to engage in a sexual relationship with his biological mother.
Kim West, who is now in her fifties, gave birth to her son Ben Ford when she was a 19-year-old student in California. She placed the baby for adoption a week later before returning to the UK. Over 30 years passed without contact between them. However, in 2013, Ben, who was married and residing in Colorado, began searching for his biological parents. He successfully located Kim and reached out to her with a letter.
Initially, their communication consisted of letters and phone calls, but it quickly escalated. By 2014, they decided to meet in person, a meeting that altered their lives significantly.
Kim and Ben crossed a boundary that most people would find unimaginable. They became sexually involved almost immediately.
Ben later confessed that the encounters were so intense that he told his then-wife, Victoria, that he could only be intimate with her by imagining she was his mother.
Kim expressed feelings of jealousy towards Victoria, stating that she couldn’t warm up to her and felt a sense of rivalry. Ben also mentioned that Victoria disapproved of his closeness to Kim, referring to her as “mummy girlfriend.”
Shortly after the affair began, Ben came clean about everything. Subsequently, he ended his marriage and moved in with Kim in Michigan.
Their relationship sparked controversy when it was made public, particularly because consensual incest between adults is a serious offense under Michigan law. If charged, they could have faced up to 15 years in prison and lifetime registration as sex offenders.
As public attention escalated, Kim and Ben opted to step out of the limelight.
Despite facing criticism, the pair argued that their relationship does not technically constitute incest. They cited “Genetic Sexual Attraction,” a contentious concept suggesting that relatives meeting as adults may experience sexual attraction due to missed bonding in infancy.
Kim rejected the incest label outright, asserting that they were destined to be together, while Ben maintained that he never viewed her as a mother but solely as a partner.
Although experts have widely condemned their justification, the couple remained firm and even expressed a desire to marry and have children together.