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.

That is extremely rare though, especially that you know three cousin couples.

It really isn’t the odd interbred white couple that’s the problem here - why all this deflection. This is part of the problem.

“Well, the royal family did it 100 years ago…”

Oh I wasn't making a party political favourites point, both for sure had the chance, it just came to a head under Labour and Labour made a choice not to take the shot.

There's a reluctance to tackle this or introduce bans for fear of being called racist. Its a huge issue in areas with large south asian populations. A friend married a cousin. Their son is disabled with a genetic disorder, they were told interrelatedness was likely a factor.

Can I ask why she married her cousin if she wasn’t from a culture that it’s common in? Was he just that irresistible?!

Yes I was just thinking about Jane Austen as one of the reasons I thought it had been quite common in the past! At no point is it implied Edmund and fanny are doing anything weird by getting married (even though I get ick grooming vibes from it in hindsight!)

Well everyone is being called racist on here for stating a completely factual and reasonable argument, so you can see their point.

It’s awful. It should be outlawed. I understand that it is a cultural thing but when it puts a human life in danger. I’d imagine that it is extremely distressing when their child is put through so many medical procedures as a result of their close relationship.

Certainly better to have bread in captivity than to be bred in captivity also.

It was not “very common” here ever, some people did it yes, but there are neighbourhoods in Bradford where 50% of marriages are between cousins, still, in 2026, some of these people are 3rd generation and they are still doing what medieval peasants did hundreds of years ago.

Surely it’s the complexity of cultural norms and practices that people are afraid of trampling on, rather than just race related claims and - anyway, disregarding that, I could imagine it’s very difficult to precisely legislate around that because to insist, for instance, that no first cousins can legally marry on the UK would not prevent legally (or religiously) married couples from entering the UK who may well be first cousins (and the practice is therefore culturally and legally protected in their home countries).

The disability concerns are obviously valid but it’s a bit of a leap to banning cousin marriages - which is I assume why education is prioritised first..? (I have a profoundly disabled child and hence I resent the notion that any risk of disability should be legislated against (some just happen!).

I think it should be banned alongside strong education about why its banned.

I rather expect that in such communities they will just not register /legally marry and only have a religious ceremony, if they wished to continue. Which is the education bit is essential

Individual cousin marriages aren’t that problematic. The issue leading to all the disabilities is repeated cousin marriages so that individuals are effectively far more closely related.

And the reason bans aren’t being pursued is the teams working there feel it’s already declining as a result of education. If it’s banned, it’s likely those arranging the marriages will simply pursue religious marriage without civil marriage, leaving the women in particular very vulnerable. Continuing with education ensures all involved get good medical advice and care.

I have worked with lots of people who are in cultures that encourage first cousin marriage. I’m not really that sure it’s as simple as saying they are “thick as mince”. I understand why you may feel this way but a lot of the time the parents are actually not aware of the risks . If their child is diagnosed with a condition that is likely to be due to consanguinity my experience is that the parents have no clue of this until after the fact. No one seems to be doing any sort of preventative education on this. I guess it’s a sensitive topic a lot of the time.

Um, it was raised under the tories by Richard Holden

I actually thought it was illegal in UK 😳

Unfortunately you can’t change it, only through education, denying it doesn’t help either, it is clearly a massive problem that causes a lot of suffering for the children born with disabilities.

That is so interesting, thank you!

Richard Holden. HTH.

They believe it's God's will, blame religions.

Its not just Pakistani/south Asian families that do this. I know of a white, British, well educated couple who are first cousins.. all their children have been born with extra fingers and have been remove on the NHS. It is discussed in hushed voices people passing judgement.

As other PPs have highlighted, it has been a way of keeping money in families for centuries, and is wrong to tar one specific community with a negative brush, when its been widely practised by many communities for as long as history.

I dont agree with the practice, and have seen many patients with deformities, illnesses, cognitive impairments etc from marrying cousins.

Spain had a far higher rate of first cousin marriage than the rest of Europe right through the 20th century which is surprising if Catholic laws prohibit it.

Did you miss the bit about 50% of Pakistani marriages in the UK being between first cousins?

The odd random white couple you’ve heard about are not what is costing the NHS, and taxpayers, millions (or billions).

Charles Darwin married his cousin and blamed it for the death of one of his children.

Hmm…Darwinism at play in the Darwin family, how ironic!

So why didn’t the Tories ban it at any point during all their years in power then? You can’t blame Labour for everything you know.

I think it is rare.
My Aunt and Uncle were first cousins, they met at 18, married for 60 years, dead 5 years, even back then it wasn’t plan sailing, they had to get permission from the Bishop to get married. They unfortunately did lose a child too, they had 2 more children.