Genetic sexual attraction is the sexual attraction between close relatives, such as siblings or half-siblings, a parent, and offspring, or first and second cousins, who first meet as adults.

It’s been documented in the media salaciously and is often misunderstood. A sufferer of the condition has opened up on Reddit about what it’s like to be affected by the attraction. She begins: “First and foremost, it is a bit of a scary thing for me to share this story in such a public domain. I figure, though, that at the very least there may be others out there who currently struggle and live with this and perhaps in some way I can help. I hope that I can also help dispel some misconceptions about Genetic Sexual Attraction.” She explains that she was adopted as an infant. She writes: “My biological mother was a teenager and did not have the means nor support to raise me. My adoptive parents had her name from some paperwork that had come from the hospital.” When she managed to track down her mother, she was able to get in contact with her father. That’s when the attraction began. “When I first saw his photos and read what he had to say, I put the feelings off as just being mere excitement,” she says. “He is a very handsome person, and extremely well spoken. We hit it off immediately. Even without any contact or knowledge of each other for two decades, we had nearly identical senses of humor, similar interests, tastes in music.” “We would stay up all night talking on the phone or chatting on IM. I was living with my boyfriend at the time, and my biological father had been married for almost 20 years at this point. My boyfriend became very jealous even early on, and so did his wife, as we were just pouring tons of attention into each other.” After visiting her biological father, things intensified. “By the second visit, after a month or so after the first, things took a turn and got out of control. It is extremely nerve-wracking to talk about this, but he and I were talking at night in the dark. I don't know what I was thinking, but as we were talking I just instinctively leaned over and kissed him. And I didn't stop, and it didn't stop at just kissing. At that point, we put ourselves into a very complicated and difficult situation that would unfold over many years,” she admits. She entered into a secret relationship with her father and the stress ultimately caused his marriage to fail. “I felt terrible for what happened to their marriage, but at the same time, I wanted her out of the picture because I was in love with him in a way that I had never felt, and that I don't believe I ever will feel again. I wanted this picture perfect life that I felt we had both waited for, for years. When things didn't go down that path, it was a huge wake-up call and reality check for me,” she continues. And while the relationship isn’t without is complications, the two are now openly a couple. “We still live together. When we meet people now, we portray each other as boyfriend/girlfriend. Sometimes I forget that we are related because a lot of time has passed since the above events happened. We both have good jobs, we both are very committed to each other, and in a weird way we are closer than we were even at the beginning. We love each other very intensely and I can't imagine ever being with anyone else” she reveals. She has also shared her thoughts on GSA and what causes it. “I think part of the reason this happens to people, is that when you meet your biological parents you are basically meeting two strangers. I already have a mom and a dad. So some weird reconciling goes on to try and place these new people. When I look at my biological father, I never look at him and think ‘dad’” she writes.