Adelphirexia is an incestuous desire or attraction to one’s own nephew. It comes from the Greek words adelphideos, meaning nephew, and orexis, meaning desire.
The origins of the term adelphirexia are unclear, although some believe Jacob E. Schmidt might have coined the term for his 1967 erotic dictionary, Lecher’s Lexicon.
People who experience adelphirexia can lust after their blood-related nephew. In some circumstances, adelphirexia could also refer to desire for the son of a brother-in-law or sister-in-law, even if that son isn’t the offspring of one’s biological sibling.
Adelphirexia is taboo and frowned on by society. While aunts and uncles should have a loving relationship with their nephews, most people believe that love should never have a sexual component. Even fantasizing about a nephew steps outside society’s accepted behavior.
Should people act on their impulses, their relationships with their siblings and other members of their family are likely to suffer. As nephews are typically much younger than their aunts and uncles, they may feel coerced into the relationship. This dynamic means the relationship has the potential to be abusive, especially if the nephew is a minor. As with all incest, there is also a significant risk any children that result from the union may have physical or mental disabilities.
