Kim West Michigan mother cites rare genetic phenomenon GSA as reason for great sex with own son Ben Ford. Psychologists remain divided as mom and son could face potential jail for their incestuous love affair.
A Michigan mom has cited a rare ‘genetic’ phenomenon as the reason for the ‘great sex’ she has with her own biological son who she gave away as a teen.
Kim West, 57, after becoming pregnant at age 19, gave up her baby boy, Ben Ford, for adoption in the mid-1980s. Ford, who is now 38, tracked down his mother eight years ago, with the pair forming a close bond.
Things quickly turned sexual, and they went public with their incestuous relationship in 2016, with a then 51 year old West boasting she had ‘mind-blowing sex’ with her then 32 year old son.
The couple has subsequently kept a low profile in a bid to avoid being prosecuted for their illegal sexual relations, while insisting science is the reason behind the red hot romance according to the UK’s Mirror.
‘This is not incest, it is GSA. We are like peas in a pod and are meant to be together,’ West declared to New Day, speaking about a phenomenon known as “genetic sexual attraction.”
Is GSA a real thing?
The phenomenon was first identified back in the 1980s by Barbara Gonyo, a woman who ran a Chicago-based support group for adoptees and their newfound relatives. She coined the term “GSA” after noting that numerous people associated with the group became sexually attracted to their family members when they first met as adults.
Psychologist Corinne Sweet previously told New Day that she has come across the phenomenon while treating patients who had been in foster homes.
‘At a genetic level, we are conditioned to find people who look like us attractive,’ Sweet said. ‘We have an almost tribal connection with family members with similar features. At the same time, people who are adopted or fostered feel deeply rejected. They have experienced a profound wound which isn’t easily healed.’
Adding: ‘So when a son meets his birth mother, he feels a great rush of need. There’s an attraction and a longing there, and when it’s combined with the appeal of genetic similarity, it becomes a very powerful and complex cocktail which is incredibly seductive.’
However, other medical experts are skeptical of GSA, with New York City sex therapist Ian Kerner telling Women’s Health that the phenomenon has never been scientifically studied.
‘I think that our mating systems tend to seek out genetic difference more than similarity,’ he stated. ‘In the case of incest or romantic love between family members, I think you have to look at it case by case instead of generalizing it as a disorder or genetic condition.’
Weighed in clinical psychologist John Mayer: ‘My professional opinion is that GSA is an excuse to give these people permission to break social norms.’
Kim West Michigan mother cites GSA as reason for great sex with own son, Ben Ford.
Nevertheless, mother and son say GSA adequately explains the instant attraction they felt for one another.
‘I know people will say we’re disgusting, that we should be able to control our feelings, but when you’re hit by a love so consuming you are willing to give up everything for it, you have to fight for it,’ West told New Day.
Added West: ‘It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance and something Ben and I are not willing to walk away from.’
Reflects the woman’s son: ‘When I met Kim, I couldn’t think of her as my mom but instead as a sexual being. I had seen a therapist at an adoption support group and had learned about the GSA phenomenon.’
Making their relationship more shocking was the fact that Ford was married at the time they met. The son soon dumped his wife in order to be in a relationship with his mom.
Ford told New Day that he couldn’t get his mother off his mind, saying to his spouse: ‘Every time I have had sex with you since I met her, I imagine it’s her I am kissing, otherwise I can’t perform.’
Meanwhile, West said it felt as if she and her son had ‘known each other for years’ after they met as adults, describing their sex as ‘incredible’ and ‘mind-blowing.’
The mother and son’s illicit love comes at a risk.
Incestuous relationships between adults are punishable by up to 15 years in prison in their home state of Michigan.
Anyone found guilty of such an offense would be required to sign the sex offenders registry for life.
