Should it be illegal for 1st cousins to marry?

[brasty]

My DP's parents are 1st cousins, and DP has a genetic illness. Marrying your 1st cousin increases the chances of genetic illness. So I wonder if we should simply make it illegal for 1st cousins to marry? Obviously anyone married would stay so, it would only apply to new marriages.
AIBU?

Yabu there are problems for all sorts of reasons. Should people who are born with conditions forego children? Mothers over 35? There's a hugher risk there too? Where do you draw the line?

Why stop there?

Why not make it illegal for anyone to have children unless they've been genetically tested beforehand and given the all clear?

I've come across plenty of families with genetic disorders - and they don't come from a culture of 1st cousin marriages nor do they belong to an ethnic minority group.

I've also worked within care services and seen the impact of alcoholic and junkie parents on the babies - born addicted and with genetic abnormalities......funnily enough that had nothing to do with 1st cousin marriages.......

Consanguinity is entirely avoidable and there can be little excuse for it where the genetic relationship is known. Most people can be trusted to naturally self-regulate their sexual desires to the extent of avoiding their own first cousins.

I wouldn't be too concerned about 6yos though!!

But Gingernaut, surely as a society we have to try to make that cultural change. Smoking was a hard culture to shift and look where we are now. Rape in marriage, FGM, all cultural shifts and topics that out there and discussed.

The burden from this problem is large and largely preventable.

Many children who come to our hospital with genetic problems have parents who refuse to discuss it

Same in my hospital, it's a big issue.

It's illegal in most US states.

I don't think it's weird or unusual. It used to be very common in the UK and no one gave it a second thought. It's only an issue if there is a serious known risk of genetic illnesses or if it's repeated over several generations. It's also perfectly legal and always has been. A one off cousin marriage is no big deal and no-one's business but the couple themselves.

I'm sorry pp are being so ignorant andisays

Where would you draw the line, though? What about same sex marriages for instance, who would only be able to have kids via IVF/Adoption/surrogacy? It wouldn't be equal to opposite sex marriages then.

I wouldn't do it myself but if it's illegal it's a can of worms.

It's not the same as making an informed decision about risk. It's not about not accepting that genetic disorders happen. It's something that can be changed. If first cousins want children then help should be available for genetic testing.

I'm not suggesting we should all be tested to avoid genetic illness but that a simple change can avoid some of these conditions and the attendant suffering. I also think it is linked with female empowerment and choice.

Genetic problems are much higher in communities where first cousin marriages are common than in the general population. So not a good idea, but I don't know about making it illegal - is that disproportionate?

First cousin marriages result in a coefficient of inbreeding of 12.5%. That is pretty high. Sharing a lot of the same genes doesn't just make it more likely that recessive genes will double up, but can also damage the immune system.

So I'm not a fan, myself. But I think that education is a better way of going about reducing it than legislation.

Oh and by the way- no I don't think it should be illegal. I think it should be discouraged and education about the risks provided.

It's repeated marriages within a small gene pool that's the issue, not isolated marriages between cousins.

That said, obviously if something is legal, you increase the chances of it remaining prevalent.

Personally, I don't have any squeamishness about cousins marrying. I am not close with my first cousins at all, and I just don't register the kind of taboo that some people were brought up to have. I don't find them remotely attractive - in the nicest possible way, I mean! - but I don't feel revolted when I hear of someone else marrying their cousin.

I do slightly judge people who express revulsion at that, TBH. Especially those who don't realise it's legal.

I think if we were to make it illegal to marry your cousins, that would be totally fine. But it would be much more effective to spend the money necessary to sort out the legal changes, in shifting perceptions within communities that it's important to marry within a close network. I'd much rather see two first cousins from a genetically diverse family choose to marry, than second or third cousins feeling pressured to marry each other because that's how their family has always done things. And that's not just about genetics, it's about the mindset that goes along with encouraging people, generation by generation, to keep marrying within their community group.

You can see how it happens though.
Arranged marriages, strict families, brides brought in from back home. Will making it illegal help? It's deeply rooted.

Thank you @PeaFaceMcgee x

Not sure if I made myself clear there. If it's illegal in heterosexual weddings it should also be illegal in same sex marriages, even though same sex marriages don't have the same risk of genetic conditions given that same sex parents would have kids via donor sperm or whatever.

To those who asked. Yes its perfectly legal. Still doesn't make it any less sick, though.
Your cousin is only one step away from your brother or sister. I mean on one side of your family you share the same Nan and Grandad, ffs
absolutely it should be illegal. Its highly dangerous to swim in your own gene pool.

Considering that they're close enough genetically to each other that it may cause problems for any future children then I think it should be classed as incest and as a result be illegal.

Im married to my 1st cousin.... ama

I used to work for a charity that worked with young adults with disabilities and there was a very high number of those adults who were of pakistani origin where 1st cousins marrying is a very cultural thing. I don't think a one-off of this happening would be anything to worry about but when it's repeated generation after generation then yes, it can cause huge problems with genetic disorders.

I do think that marrying first cousins and having children should be outlawed.

""British Pakistanis accounted for 3.4% of all births but have 30% of all British children with "recessive disorders""

The difference in Pakistani communities is that it's been generation after generation of Cousin marriages.

There are tests available via the GP to ensure that genetic issues aren't going to be an issue, which i think is enough. In the US these used to be mandatory before marriage for everyone, in some States.

There's got to be absolute proof that a Law is needed before the Government interferes in the private lives of people and outside of the Pakistani community that isn't the case.

I thought it was illegal.

The farmers in the Oxfordshire village I used to live in were first cousins and have 6 ridiculously gorgeous children. However my youngest DD spent too much time in NICU, SCBU and PICU at the Leeds General Infirmary and I became aware of the high numbers children with serious heart problems or disabilities being born to first cousins, I think often this was at least 2nd generation cousin marriage. It was very familiar to the staff. It was a shock to me and very sad. People should be made aware of the risks.
I can see why if you aren't aware of the genetic risks, it isn't intrinsically "gross" if you haven't grown up together. I had school friends who fancied cousins they rarely saw because the cousins lived in Northern Ireland and they met only every few years.

Come on people, it's not "sick" or a moral issue. It's a real risk but not as discussed with isolated marriages, but with communities with repeated consanguinity.