A woman who entered into a relationship with her biological father and had a child with him has spoken about the long-term consequences of the affair, which later led to criminal proceedings and years of anxiety over what might happen if she returned to Australia.
Using the name Sophia Greenwood, she wrote in The Times about discovering her birth parents after being raised by adoptive parents and meeting her biological father, Michael, when she was 24.
Her account has since been revisited in a new Times podcast episode, which describes how the relationship became a source of controversy, legal scrutiny and enduring family fallout. Greenwood has also recently co-written a memoir about the experience with Helen Croydon, published in 2026.
She said the encounter stirred feelings that unsettled her almost immediately.
Sophia described reconnecting with her birth mother as a strange but powerful experience, calling it both moving and confusing as well as deeply happy.
Her meeting with Michael, however, had an even stronger effect, and she said the closeness between them developed rapidly.
“I felt understood in a way I never had before,” she said. “About a year later, we arranged to meet in England. I picked him up from the airport feeling both apprehensive and excited.
“From the moment we met, it felt astonishingly easy between us, as though – rather than having never met until now – we had known each other forever.”
She said the most alarming part was that the bond did not feel unnatural to her, but instead seemed effortless.
“I realized with horror that what I was experiencing resembled romantic attraction,” she said.
“I had spent much of my adult life thus far searching for this kind of effortless emotional connection with a man and now, impossibly, I felt it for the last person I should.”
Sophia went on to live with Michael in Australia after he had moved there from the UK, and the relationship lasted for five years.
During that period, they had a son, James. She said she struggled with having to conceal the truth about his background and created a made-up former partner to explain his parentage.
“We knew our biological connection would be judged harshly and our future could never feel entirely secure,” she added to the Times.
The situation also reflected a little-known psychological phenomenon sometimes referred to as genetic sexual attraction, in which some reunited relatives describe intense romantic or sexual feelings after a long separation. Experts generally note that it is associated with reunion dynamics rather than a biological inevitability.
She later moved back to the UK and eventually told some family members about what had happened with Michael.
In 2004, one of Michael’s ex-girlfriends notified police in Australia, resulting in his arrest.
“Michael was arrested and later received a suspended sentence for what was legally classified as incest, although because the relationship involved two consenting adults who had never known a family relationship, it was referred to during proceedings as ‘technical incest’,” Sophia explained. “British police interviewed me at the request of Australian authorities but decided it was not in the public interest to pursue charges.”
Years later, Sophia had a second son, Lucas, with a man she described as “wonderful” and became engaged, but the past continued to follow her.
When both of her sons chose to live together in Perth, she wanted to be near them, but realized going back to Australia could expose her to arrest.
“If you’re an Australian citizen, you can return,” she was allegedly told by police. “But if you come into contact with law enforcement, you may be detained.”
She said she then sought legal help in an effort to resolve the matter once and for all.
“With great trepidation I engaged legal assistance, instructing a criminal lawyer who reviewed the original file, submitted detailed representations explaining that more than three decades had passed, that I had voluntarily come forward, had lived as a law-abiding citizen, and had returned to Australia specifically to resolve the situation and be close to my son.
“Following preliminary hearings, prosecutors discontinued the case and all charges were withdrawn. The joy we felt as a family was indescribable. The cloud that had hung over our lives for years dissipated. It was over.”
Sophia now lives full-time in Perth, and she said Michael continues to play an important role in James’ life as his father.