1st cousin marriage

[Wiseplumnet]

AIBU to ask your opinion on 1st cousin marriage?.I have read that the government is looking to ban it. I know it is more prevelent ( but declining) in the UK among people of Asian origin. I am not coming from a judgemental or racist angle. I am just interested to know how mum'snetters of all ethnicities feel about marriage between 1st cousin's. I know it used to be more common in the west at one time, apart from keeping money/property in families, people travelled less widely, so there was less choice of marriage partners.I worked with a girl ( White British) who was in a secret relationship with her 1st cousin and they are very reluctant to tell their family, so there seems to be a cultural taboo in 1st cousins being romantically involved.Genetic factors resulting in disabilities (statistically twice as many as in unrelated parents) is sometimes given as a reason for banning cousin marriage, however we have genetic screening now, and disabilities aren't always serious.As so many babies died in infancy before we had vaccines, better health care etc , it was probably difficult to differentiate whether the close relationship between parents was the cause of any disabilities their children . Speaking for myself,I can't imagine wanting to marry any of the cousins I was brought up with as they seem more like brothers to me, but I could understand why someone may be attracted to a 1st cousin who they first met as adults. Or does it give you the instant 'Yuk' ? Also is banning 1st cousin marriage the same as banning 1st cousin sexual relationships and children, or would that become illegal? Maybe there's no need for a legal ban as the tradition will just die out over time

Yes, of course it's not.

There are 3 of us siblings, and just the one cousin, so it was never on.

There’s another private members bill due to be heard in the new year that covers marriage and sexual relations. It seems labour might be looking at it a little more seriously this time round. I only hope sense prevails and they don’t put votes ahead of the innocent offspring that these relationships produce. Tax bill aside (which should also be a consideration in this debate), I really don’t think that genetic education is working quickly enough for the 3% of children born from these relationships with completely avoidable genetic conditions (or for their sibling). It’ll be interesting to see how it addresses existing marriages.

I think it should probably be banned because of the health risks, however, I don't agree it is incest at all. I had a massive crush on one of my first cousins for quite a while, I obviously never would have on my brothers! It is a completely different relationship.

It’s not just the risk of genetic diseases. Worse outcomes in child development, language and learning are observed, also worse general health and vigour. If you breed dogs too closely they lose vigour, have shorter lives and smaller litters with fewer puppies surviving. It doesn’t take many generations to see this.

Ain’t that the truth? Very interesting choice of an example. Her children had a lot of tragic endings.

This seems to be the approach de rigueur, rather than the Government doing something crazy like passing laws to protect its citizens from unnecessary harm.

And lower IQ.

Sure, it’s sooo different 😬

What a shame. Did you consider polygamy?

Surely it is actually.

Should be banned. No reason not to. Clannish cultural stupidity tbh. Wreaks havoc on families, health systems etc.

Yes, among Irish travellers, who also have high rates of birth defects.
Studies show a congenital anomaly rate of about 5.5% in the Irish Traveller community, compared to roughly 2.9% in the general population.

You only have to walk round Blackburn to see a disproportionate amount of disabled Asian children.
It really isn't healthy to breed with someone genetically close.

I don’t think the issue is that a one off first cousin marriage causes issues it’s when it’s a cultural norm so you get generations and generations of first cousins marrying so the gene pool becomes more like half siblings/ siblings marrying ( see double first cousins for example)

I cant believe in 21st century Britain we're discussing if cousin marriage is wrong. Of course it is!

Some "cultural norms" dont belong here.

To be clear I’m totally grossed out by the idea of cousin marriage. My male cousins all either look like my dad, or my mum’s mum!

Isn’t it quite hard though to actually enforce a ban on the grounds of a public health policy / due to genetic risk? The argument falls apart very quickly

First cousin marriage is real but only modestly increases genetic risk, after multiple generations of intermarriage it increases further. Unrelated couples also have genetic risks. Arguably if the goal is to reduce genetic risk then it makes sense to do wider genetic screening and counselling rather than banning marriage.

Some communities are aware of hereditary disorders more likely to affect them eg Ashkenazi more commonly do screening for things like cystic fibrosis due to increase risk.

My husband is from a community where historically there was a lot of intermarriage which results in various quite nasty bone dysplasia’s (not just in his family but in the region too). We got tested, something called the pan ethnic genetic screening test. Thankfully we didn’t have the same recessive mutations. What surprised me though is HOW much heat we took for doing those tests. Questions as to whether it is ethical to do these tests. People from UK cultural backgrounds who seemed to have strong anti views to it. Seems a bit strange that people can have such strong views against genetic testing, but some of those same broader cultural instincts would be comfortable with the government banning a whole category of relationship. Testing to me seems less coercive.

In terms of the coercion argument and the risk these marriages pose (usually to women). Banning first cousin marriage wouldn’t stop people going abroad to marry or having sex / children.

Also - if the concern is women’s rights and coercive situations, those women would be in a far worse position if they married abroad and their marriage then wasn’t recognise under UK law. They wouldn’t benefit from any UK legal protections

Also I do feel there is an undertone in some factions around this debate of protecting British culture and a loss of it. I wonder if those people realise a ban may actually encourage intermarriage, which I doubt they would like either…

There’s no winning!

Nah, it's proper filthy and just wrong.

I agree 100%, but the Courts are too wishy washy to enforce it this strongly.
It would send a strong message to make an example out of a couple of people.
But serial sex offenders walk away with no jail time.

Aside from the genetic risk (and sorry if this has already been mentioned, but I'm not wading through 15 pages), when you have a high rate of cousin marriages, you're inevitably talking about forced marriages. It's not as if all these women are falling in love with their cousins.

Interesting. Id imagine that first cousins married abroad should be inelegible for immigration to UK. How easy or difficult that is to achieve I don't know.

Still pretty common in British families with money. Its part of the culture.

No it's not.

I don't think there's anything particularly "yuk" about first cousins falling in love. I don't see it like siblings and definitely not like inter-generational incest. The genetic risks when it's not generation after generation are no worse than having children when you're older (as I did!).

I'm on the fence about it being banned. I realise it's a problem in some communities, but they are pretty niche and I don't think it's ideal to put a broad ban in place for everyone when it's something that's so limited. Would prefer some sort of required genetic screening and counseling and a prolonged campaign to make the dangers of multi-generational cousin marriage clear in the communities where it's common.

So if you ban every first cousin marriage that kind of solves the issue. Being honest, its only an issue in some cultures, who have been doing it for generations, so banning all first cousin marriages is obviously the way to go.