1st cousin marriage

She wants to be sooo open minded and just so darn cool, that her brain has actually fallen out.

Children born of incestuous relationships have a very low chance to have congenital deformaties or inherited diseases, true, it is greater than unrelated parents but real problems will only tend to appear after generations of incest related births, which i find to be an unlikely scenario given the current prevelance.

I'm spitballing here too, but i'd imagine a couple in a scenario like this would have already considered the risk and may agree not to have children for the reasons you suggest.

From a moral perspective, if both adults are consenting however, I have zero problems with this.

I believe midwives have been instructed to minimise the risks posed to children born from first cousin marriage.

https://unherd.com/newsroom/why-is-the-nhs-still-defending-cousin-marriage/

Really?

Fathers and daughters too? they could both consent if the daughter is an adult

What has led them to consent is a very different matter and highly unlikely to be free from coercion at some stage

The thing is in British families having a disabled child is hard. But in, say, Pakistani communities (where 80% of women do not work) a mother has multiple helpers of several generations. The load is shared. In the White Rose shopping centre in Leeds a frequent sight is multiple women steering a fully medically-set up wheelchair/bed.

Mil had a very disabled child. She struggled immensely as her only support was fil (who had to hold down a job) and also had to face society’s prejudices (her mil would not let her visit “in case the neighbours saw”). If you have multiple helpful relatives, ample state support and numerous other dcs, things aren’t quite so bad. And, of course, a religious conviction that it is the will of someone on high.

We’re such pussies that we wouldn’t actually enforce that.

It is the damage inflicted on children that we should care about. Blind, deaf, inability to walk, severe mental deficit, no opportunity to find any purpose or enjoyment in life.
These families are offered unlimited genetic counselling. They ignore it all because it is "their culture".

It's illegal to marry anyone your related to in Australia you do a blood test before you get your marriage licence

And the children born from these marriages??

This is the bottom line here.

Yup, I'm from Bradford originally, absolutely this!!

Disgusting is exactly right.

It’s disgusting to sacrifice the children’s health from these marriages to keep the men-folk happy.

Between consenting adults I couldn't care less if it was your brother or sister.

It's yuck there are millions of people on the planet no need to go hillbilly redneck and hook up with your cousins 🤮🤮🤮

Sorry pp, I hadn’t read your post before writing mine!

It’s not banned here because it WAS rare. So birth deformities of offspring didn’t occur often. Unfortunately with the Pakistani heritage families here, many are already ‘inbred’ from this practice, so any genetic abnormalities are compounded, therefore birth defects are common. Heartbreaking for the poor women and children affected.
It now needs to be banned to save future generations.

There has been a large (eye wateringly expensive) NHS unit in Bradford for decades. It is purported to be for research into genetic/ inherited conditions, but in reality it is needed to provide specialist care for children and adults, almost all of whom are from the Pakistani community, who have the most awful spectrum of inherited disabilities.
The issue of first cousin marriage is exacerbated because it is perpetuated down multiple generations, by which time it is practically the same as repeated sibling incest and parent child incest. It has been discussed frequently, at great length but to little purpose, for decades, but always shut down amid accusations of racism.
The cost to the taxpayer is huge because of the level of care needed, for years and years, for ever increasing numbers of children. It IS criminal to inflict horrific damage on children. IMO.

If first cousin marriage is banned will that also extend to first cousin sexual relationships?
Could be an absolute minefield to detect and then prosecute.

It's different from sibling marriage - first cousins may not be brought up together and might only meet as adults. They might even be unaware of each other’s existence.
I think genetic counselling and investigations into family backgrounds and histories should be mandatory rather than any outright ban.

I have no skin in this game and I was surprised by the vehemence of those who supported a ban, calling such marriages ‘disgusting’ etc. Problematic, unfortunate and perhaps sad might describe them better.

It would be so nice if people would bother to read the thread before posting repetitive comments on matters discussed in detail already.

That isn’t a reason not to make damaging things illegal! Obviously, as evidence the world over demonstrates, the number of incidences of a behaviour decrease significantly when something is made illegal, especially if there is robust enforcement. It’s impossible to completely eradicate any crime, so therefore we should abolish prisons, let everyone out, repeal all our laws and disband the police? And you apparently think this would have no impact on behaviour, if everything was legalised? Your argument is absurd.

We know this, it’s just irrelevant.

Both obviously.

It so important to look at Royals when it comes to generational cousins marriage. This isn’t just a one off Cousin marriage, it’s when it happens generation to generation.

Have a look at what happened to the Hapsbergs, by the time it got to the end Charles 2 couldn’t chew his food, and was infertile. The European Royals of the 18th & 19th century also had multiple health issues

You can ban sex between first cousins.

Yes, it is, but then I suppose it'd be very complicated to have an exception if the couple can prove they cannot conceive together because of age or infertility.

That was not an ethical debate - it was political