When did marrying a cousin become socially unacceptable?

[LionBird]

I'm a big Agatha Christie fan and noticed there are quite a few references to cousins being in a relationship. I'm rereading Taken at the Flood currently, which is set in 1946, and the main character is engaged to her cousin and nobody seems to think it's strange! Obviously it was quite common in royal circles too in the 19th century but post-WW2 isn't that long ago so I'm not sure how and when it became unacceptable to have a relationship with a cousin - can anyone shed some light on this?

So They would have been double first cousin,s ?

In the The Forsyte Saga which was written between 1906 and 1921, two first cousins marry but it is implied that they avoid having children because they are aware of the risk - so there was awareness then.

Some marriages will be arranged, so it's the sometimes also cousins parents taking the risk.

My dad is Sikh Punjabi and for Sikhs marrying your cousin is highly taboo and tantamount to sibling incest. I find it interesting given that in Punjab you have other groups where it is almost the norm. I was raised being told that your cousins are basically your brother and sisters. So wonder if that is why the practice is considered unethical.

We have first cousins married in our family history so I don't think it's ick really. Well not for past marriages, if my children wanted to marry their cousins I think I'd feel differently.

Either way it's just a silly idea. I have to wonder if some of my health issues are caused by this.

My ex's mum and dad were in the position where his mum's sister married his dad's brother so had double first cousins. One couple emigrated though so the children rarely met and didn't have any romantic relationships. The children from both sides do look remarkably similar as they are probably more akin to siblings than cousins. Even a generation later with many other added genes, the offspring still have a similarity in the eyes in particular.

I'm not.

My great grandparents (born 1900 and 1903, married 1924) were second cousins (their grandmothers were sisters). They didn't know each other growing up because one moved to NZ before her children were born, and then later sent her NZ-born daughter "home" to Scotland to study when she turned 18, where of course she met her relatives. My parents and grandparents seemed to find this completely normal and unremarkable, but I was aware of a stigma around it when I had to document my ancestry for a school project in the late '80s. OTOH, my kids know (because they had to do similar projects around '05-'10) and don't care, so maybe there was a peak of objection to these types of unions which has now receded?

Serious disabilities can occur with cousin marriages- It's not genetically healthy.

Recessive genes can show themselves.

My husband's Indian (Hindu) and first cousins are referred to as siblings. Within his family there has definitely been marriages within the family. I'm not sure if first cousins have married but his older aunts, uncles etc are some sort of more distant cousins.

Genetically it's not good idea is it? We have a genetic issue that only came to light in a round about way so never obvious. Told family who said we must mean a vitamins deficiency 😯 so no one in the wider family was tested. Two of the cousins could have the condition in fact one has a symptom of the worse side effects but it's all put down to her LD. Nephew had one symptom but bil told us 'we don't have ASD in this country' so it was poo pooed totally.

I'd not want my kids marrying their cousins on that basis. A hard genetic condition to pick up as well. Micro array.

Heartbreaking documentary on this subject

It ended when scientifically it was discovered that it is not a good idea. I used to live in a very hassidic community area, on the corner of the street was a genetic disorder screening centre, so they can be tested for recessive genes prior to marrying cousins.

Ancient Celtic communities made all marriages outside the family, they knew that intermarriage weakened society. This would be about 2,000 years ago!

historically interbreeding kept the money and titles within the family.

First cousins definitely seems weird as you share a set of grandparents. I have seen some things online though and with a friend at school where people were saying it was gross for step siblings. My friend was just her mum was going out with the boy she was datings dad. I found it weird people made out it was so disgusting as both relationships were very recent.

Look at the reaction to Emily Atack and her partner. Headlines about her dating her cousin and lots of people saying how disgusting it is despite him being her step-cousin and no blood relation.

It increases the chance of genetic disorders and birth defects for children they may have.

I got married in an Islamic country where cousin marriages is the norm. Therefore it was mandatory to have a blood test to test for genetic problems before you could marry. As far as I’m aware the tests aren’t fully accurate.

It becomes much more risky when there is continuous cousin marriages passing down the generations of a family line.

In DHs country everyone has a name specific to their clan, precisely so these things don't happen. We didn't do this for our kids, which we somewhat regret now - turns out FIL was more of a serial philander that we thought and they've got mystery aunties, uncles and cousins all over the place😂

I haven't read the whole thread, so apologies if someone has mentioned this already, but it used to be illegal in this country. A recent article by Matthew Syed in the Sunday Times says that "a high rate of cousin marriage in a society isn’t just a predictor of an elevated ranking on the international corruption index, but also of weaker democracy, feebler rule of law, lower GDP and fewer voluntary blood donations." He then goes on:

"The West’s rise can be understood through this lens, as noted by the great anthropologist Sir Jack Goody — a rise sparked by the Catholic church’s ban on cousin marriage. This was introduced in the early Middle Ages, with the ban extending up to sixth cousins by the 11th century. This forced people in England — Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Vikings etc — to marry outside their tribes and thereby dissolved these sectarian affiliations, paving the way for a post-tribal unity. We were the first mongrel nation."

The ban was ended in the early modern period.

www.thetimes.com/comment/columnists/article/scandinavia-has-got-the-message-on-cousin-marriage-we-must-ban-it-too-j8chb0zch

@Nolegusta
Actually @NetZeroZealot's post wasn't meaningless as so many people were saying they didn't know people today who were married to cousins - apart from those in specific cultures. She was telling us her experience otherwise.

In Scotland this used to be referred to as 'German cousins' which was presumably easier to pronounce than 'cousins germain' from the French. It just means first cousins, and I've seen both forms written on marriage certificates.

In certain communities, it's still quite common and socially acceptable.

I saw a documentary a few years back about genetic disorders in Pakistani children caused by generations of cousin marriage.

Maybe it was seeing the effects of interbreeding in humans and other animals and increased understanding of the impact on health which led to it becoming socially unacceptable.

The continued marriages between cousins is how the Portuguese royal family died out - generations of Portuguese royalty marrying their cousins in the Spanish Royal Family until the resulting offspring were sterile, disabled or insane.
Or all three.
(edited to add - the Spanish royal family had a broader range of royal families to choose from so weren’t as badly affected)

There are high incidences of some DSDs in populations with a culture of cousins marrying; it’s one of the reasons it clusters in certain areas.

The more we knew about the consequences, the less culturally accepted it became.

Thank you for sharing this

No interbreeding as far as I know in my family.

I used to work with a woman from south India and from a high caste system whose family had all married cousins including her and she had a brother who lived with her and had Downs Syndrome presumably due to genetic issues. She didn’t have children, presumably due to genetic issues and from what she told me about this, she thought it was wrong to intermarry knowing what she then knew and her brother’s disability.