After months of battling a French law banning marriage between relatives, a 45-year-old man finally has won the right to marry his stepmother.
Eric Holder has been with his former stepmother Elisabeth Lorentz for the past five years, dreaming of marriage but not allowed to because of a French law prohibiting step-parents and step-children from marrying each other, according to the French news site Midi-Libre.
Before their relationship began, 48-year-old Lorentz was married to Holder's father, who is now her ex-husband. It is not clear why the two separated.
The couple challenged the law in a letter sent to President Francois Hollande last year, according to the Mirror. The president sent a letter back saying such unions are illegal.
Things change in June when a French court in the northeastern Lorraine region ruled in Holder's favor. Prosecutors objected to the decision but decided not to file an appeal, the Mirror reported.
"At last, it's the big day!" Lorentz said after the court ruling.
The couple finally married on Saturday at a ceremony in the small village of Dabo, also in the northeast. Dozens of guests attended the celebration, including the groom's father. Lorentz said her ex-husband has been fully supportive during the legal battle, the BBC reported.
"I simply hope that our story will be useful [to] other couples in our situation, because I know there are some," Lorentz said.
