A state district judge has thrown out a request to dismiss incest charges against a New Mexico mother who is 'deeply in love' with her teenage son.

Monica Mares' attorney had argued that incest laws punished women disproportionately and that Supreme Court rulings on same-sex marriage and abortion set a precedent which meant the charges should be dropped.

But the 36-year-old mother's pleas were dismissed by Judge Drew Tatum at the Clovis court house.

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Mares and her son Caleb Peterson, 19 (pictured) are willing to go to jail because of the strength of feeling they have for one another after 'it was almost love at first sight'

Monica Mares' attorney had argued that incest laws punished women disproportionately

The mother and son are seen kissing each other in this photo shared by Mares

The couple are seen above in their mug shots. They face up to 18 months in prison if found guilty and have appealed to the public to donate to their legal fund

The mother-of-nine and her son Caleb Peterson, 19, are willing to go to jail because of the strength of feeling they have for each another after 'it was almost love at first sight'.

She will stand trial next week after the judge issued a decision letter and said he found 'the matters presented by the defendant lack merit and do not warrant dismissal'.

The couple face up to 18 months in prison if found guilty and have appealed to the public to donate to their legal fund.

The Daily Mail Online conducted an exclusive interview with them in August during which they said they were willing to risk everything to be together and wanted to raise awareness of Genetic Sexual Attraction (GSA) relationships.

Mares was just 16 when she gave birth to Peterson who was then adopted.

Mares was just 16 when she gave birth to Peterson who was then adopted

Mares, a mother of nine, gave birth to Peterson (pictured as a baby) when she was 16 years old. He was adopted shortly thereafter

She saw him for the first time in 18 years last Christmas when she picked him up at his adoptive father's house in Texas and brought him to her home after the pair got in touch over Facebook.

The couple soon developed romantic feelings for each other and their relationship became sexual a few weeks later.

GSA is defined as 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.

Incest is a crime in all 50 states, but the specifics of the laws and punishment vary greatly from state to state.

The couple live separately in Clovis, New Mexico. Pictured above is Peterson's home in the small town

Mares said: 'He is the love of my life and I don't want to lose him. My kids love him, my whole family does. Nothing can come between us not courts, or jail, nothing.

'I have to be with him. When I get out of prison I will move out of Clovis to a state that allows us to be together.'

Mares said she would even give up the right to see her other children if she was asked to choose between them and her lover.