To be disturbed by wilfull ignorance around genetic inbreeding?

[M9009]

I've come from a country were cousin marriage and indeed marriage to any close relative if illegal.
I've recently started working in a dialysis unit and I'm so disturbed by how many parents are young children born of first cousin marriage. Usually from South Asian backgrounds.
Today I was speaking to one parents who has 9 children, all in need of kidney transplants. The eldest 2 have already had theirs. Parents are first degree cousins and each have various medical problems of their own.
Why, as a society, do we allow these marriages? It seems so cruel to the children who are born with medical and genetic problems.
Maybe I'm easily shocked, I don't know.

This, with bells and all singing and dancing whistles on.

I don’t see the connection. The cousin marriage is applied to everyone. Targeting a specific group of people like those with a disability is discrimination.

Good point.

I truly don't care if you want to bang your cousin (though I will privately be thinking it's gross), it's just unethical to have a child. And for that reason, cousin marriage should be banned.

There's a good article here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c241pn09qqjo

A young woman who is married to her cousin is quoted as saying: "I always feel like if it's going to happen, it's going to happen. If the child is going to be born with a disability then it will happen if you are married to a cousin or not."

Which suggests that there is more education to do.

Well done for a shining a bright light on this, OP. Not easy in such a left-leaning site.

I am the child of a second cousin marriage and am now almost 82. I am one of two sisters, with no noticeable disabling genetic defects that I am aware of. My parents grew up many miles apart, but fell in love when they met in their late teens and were devoted to one another.
Nonetheless, I do not think first cousin marriage is a good idea, and certainly not repeatedly. I'm white British by the way, for many generations.

But in the meantime those children have to suffer. Horribly suffer in some cases.

What does political affiliation have to do with it?

Well, don't about some of you but the info about travellers on this thread has been enlightening to say the least!
Going to go back to the bill the Tories raised on first cousin marriage(heavily focused on S Asian families AFAIK) and do some more reading.

But we already ban marrying siblings, parents, uncle, grandparents. Its literally only an extra close relation.

If you were disabled and knew that there would be a huge chance of having a child with that disability why the hell would you have a child. If you were disabled by an accident or a condition you absolutely couldn't pass on then there's no reason not to have a child.

Last I heard, mumsnet is full of Reform voters 😂

Yes I see

i think people should know better now and stop marrying close relatives and pro creating

the NHS should not be endorsing this

plus they should marry someone in the UK already here rather than bringing someone over from abroad

It should be illegal to marry anyone you are related to, no matter how distant.

But in the meantime it's costing the NHS a vast amount and and impacting the number of people waiting for a kidney transplant as an example

Agreed. The fuss made when making seatbelts became a legal requirement demonstrated that we shouldn’t shy away from making laws for the public good just because some don’t like the idea. I told DD about it the other day and she was gobsmacked.

Part of the trouble is that the left don’t even want repeated first cousin marriage criticised, let alone try to prevent it.

There are many Muslims in positions of power throughout government and the NHS that are very likely to support repeated first cousin marriage. I’m sure there are also many Muslims in these positions that don’t support it but the left don’t want to listen to them.

Unfortunately this government and the authorities are in thrall to certain Muslim leaders. They won’t do anything about the spread of non stun slaughter, they refuse to ban first cousin marriage, they refuse to police communities effectively and fairly.

There are lots of traveller organisations that could help rather than relying on 'ousiders' if you know what I mean. I know pavee point is one here, I do agree that education would have to come from home. I suppose there are limited options for travellers when it comes to marriage too, if they want to avoid marrying outside of their culture. I'm not sure what the answer is but I don't think that banning cousin marriage would be the cure all some think it would be.

Tell me about it.

Im surprised the thread hasn’t already been shut down!

It’s because we love you.

And because you seem to have an issue with a brown person having an opinion.

Ha ha. Very amusing.

Google the Hapsbergs if you want to see the true horror of inbreeding.Its where the term ' Hapsberg chin' comes from.

The ticking time bomb quote is a very worrying thought. We’re talking about people who statistically have large families. The benefits/education bill will be astronomical.

It’s scary that some people think Mumsnet is so left-leaning, it makes me wonder what on earth is being said in their own homes if they think this is left wing!