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

1st cousin marriage is a really bad idea especially if it’s practiced by multiple generations, a one off doesn’t make as much difference genetically. Do remember that people use the word cousin when referring to 2nd or more distant cousins too which again isn’t a big deal unless it’s a common thing in the family. This is where it gets tricky, where the parents and grandparents were cousins already the risk of genetic diseases increases with each generation, the rates in some communities eg in Bradford in a study re several times the norm for the whole county.

@Shelby2010and also you cannot screen for everything - known conditions and ones linked with particular genes only

My opinion is that first cousin marriage is fucking stupid.

Think anyone who marries 1st cousin either has genetic screening before marriage like in the Jewish faith or they pay insurance to pay for care for children needing medical care.

Surely it increases the risk of genetic abnormalities and birth defects in any offspring? Why would anybody think that is morally OK?

Then we should for the same for siblings in the same situation, no?

I can't believe the poll is so evenly split...

@Catpuss66 To knowingly increase that risk is surely morally wrong?

Surely smokers and alcoholics should also pay for their own treatment in that case?

I’m completely against cousin marriage, and I believe that the parents of a child born with disabilities due to cousin marriage should be imprisoned for child abuse.

I don’t care if it’s the “norm” in some cultures, it doesn’t fit with ours and it shouldn’t be normalised.

That's was well over 100 years ago

@nomas It would not be the fault of the child if they required medical care or had an abnormality due to their parents being first cousins; entirely the fault of the parents.

I don’t disagree.

@Catpuss66 Alcoholism is an illness.

Thats debatable

The WHO has advised that the only acceptable level of alcohol intake is zero.

@nomas So anybody who drinks above that level should pay for their own medical treatment if they become ill, even if completely unrelated to having the odd glass of wine?!!!

@dustabsorber Also, do you not think that many alcoholics go down that path due to significant trauma? For example, I know of a lady who became dependent on alcohol after her young child very suddenly died. She was left completely on her own.
That was of course not due to her actions.
Marrying a first cousin is.

I’m saying that gate keeping NHS services for some people due to their perceived actions but not for others is problematic.

And what happens if the parent can’t afford to
pay? Should the hospital refuse to care for the child?

I think cousin marriage should be banned, particularly where it is practised repeatedly across generations.

PPs have pointed out that marriages between relatives occurred throughout European history, including among aristocratic and royal families. That's true. But there is a distinction between occasional marriages between relatives for dynastic, political or financial reasons and a cultural pattern where close relative marriages are repeated within the same extended families over multiple generations.

First cousins share more genetic material than unrelated couples, increasing the chance that both parents carry the same recessive genetic condition. Where cousin marriage is repeated generation after generation within a relatively closed gene pool, those risks can become more significant.

There is also a problem with describing this simply as an "Asian" issue. Asia is enormously diverse, and cousin marriage is certainly not practised universally. For example, in Hindu families of Indian origin, first-cousin marriage is considered completely unacceptable (even the thought of it is outrageous) because first cousins are regarded, essentially, as brothers and sisters (and second cousins as nieces and nephews).

The difficulty is about how a ban can actually be enforced. A law would need to apply universally, regardless of ethnicity or religion (a distant great uncle and great aunt on DH's side are first cousins. Both white British. No one likes to talk about it!).

Alongside any legislation, there would need to be much greater education about the genetic risks of repeated consanguineous marriage so families can make genuinely informed decisions about marriage and having children. But, then, how this can be enforced for marriages that have taken place abroad or as religious ceremonies? Would we be taking away more legal rights from the women who might be forced/coerced into it?

I think it should be banned. It creates an NHS burden that need not happen. People can marry further out instead of risking their child’s health.

The main issue isn’t even cousin marriage. It’s repetitive cousin marriage down generations leading to double cousin marriages - double cousin marriage has the same rate of disability in progeny as half siblings or grandparent-grandchild!

Yes of course it is, but that will only change through education, also not sure how enforceable banning cousin marriage would be.

@nomas I think the stark difference is alcoholism is an addiction, often due to trauma out of one's control.
Marrying a first cousin, however, is always a choice.

@Catpuss66 In exactly the same way as it is illegal to marry a sibling?

Our own royal family is the result of people marrying first cousins for generations, so lol at all the comments of “inbreeding”.

I wouldn’t do it personally, but I think it’s interesting that people only seem to take issue now it’s brown people doing it.