Time to outlaw cousin marriages?

[mrsruffallo]

Interesting article here
Would you support it being made illegal?

Yup - how far do you take it? "Fountain of Life" springs to mind.

Would be surprised if they would manage to police it effectively given that the true Muslim marriage contract is apparently the religious one rther than what is signed at the Registary Office.

Agree that it sounds like a drag when cousins are obliged to do it, but if it arises out of free choice, I think it sounds rather romantic as a one-off event within the history of a family

I think there is a hidden agenda here too. I have never thought it was a good idea genetically but then all the cousins in my family just look so alike that it would be too weird.

Just a wee note. Roman Catholic law forbids marriage between first cousins. Its certainly not a culture from the faith.You can't get dispensation and have to marry elsewhere.

When I was doing my Masters degree we were told that there were certain villages in remote areas of Europe where the local priest had to be consulted before 2 individuals could marry - just to see how related and interrelated they were (by going through parish records). They had had such a high rate of birth defects in the villages that if the 2 were too closely related, the marriage was forbidden.

I don't think cousins marrying should be banned outright but I DO think it is a good idea to have genetic counselling.

I wonder how many of these cousin marriages are effectively arranged marriages? Perhaps instead of making it illegal, cousins planning to marry should be counselled to try and discover whether this is the case. Genetic testic should then be the next step. BUT i wouldn't expect the taxpayer to pick up the bill i would expect these people to be aware that they are entering into a high risk situation and fork out for their own counselling and testing.

Read this - sorry it is from the Daily Mail but it does talk about the extent of the problem.

There was also an excellent article in the Times yesterday too here

I'm not 100% sure but I think Queen Victoria had the law changed to allow 1st cousins to marry so that she could marry Prince Albert - prior to that it was forbidden in the CofE as well (not surprising if it's forbidden by the Catholic Church)

Genetics doesn't care about culture/traditions. I guess the government here needs to decide whether they have the power to interfere with people's choices in who they marry/have sex/children with.

I am inclined to say no and because I am a cold hearted bitch I am inclined to think that it is a self sorting problem. If you breed into a line too often eventually it will stop being possible. Sucks for the individual kids though. But that is how it goes.

Am I the only one who finds the following quote rather alarming;

"Lady Deech will also warn that marriage between first cousins can be a barrier to the integration of minority communities"

What is she suggesting, forced marriages between minority groups and the 'natives'?

Personally, my cousins are all yuck, so the thought of marrying them would never have crossed my mind.

Marriage in my opinion, should be a choice between the two people involved, other people should keep their noses out.

As for the Muslim thing, Muslims are allowed to marry first cousins, there's nothing stipulating it to be better than marrying people outside of the family. It states that cousins are allowed, there's a very long list of family members one is not allowed to marry islamically!
I'd have thoguht the prevalence of PAkistani muslims marrying cousins has more to do with land ownership then anything else.....

These statistics are very scary.
I think the minimum that needs to happen is a public health campaign about it as I had no idea that rates of genetic disorders were so high and I would imagine many other people don't. I think this should extend to the dangers of having children at a higher age so that people are making informed choices.
I think the idea of banning marriage between first cousins is worth considering - should the choices of the adults be protected whilst the children born deaf or blind or with neurological disorders have no choice - I don't think so.

I think it sounds rather romantic as a one-off event within the history of a family

You are joking?

To say it's morally wrong is an odd view though.

Really? The thought of one of my children marrying my sister's children makes me feel distinctly queasy

Look, we are not going to get anywhere as a society if someone who starts a debate on how certain sections of our communities live is labelled 'racist' or 'muslim bashing'.
It's pathetic
Are we only allowed to comment on the white working class then?

I am sure there are many 'traditions' that I don't agree with in countries all over the world.
I don't think that 'traditional' or 'cultural' has to mean okay.

"Just a wee note. Roman Catholic law forbids marriage between first cousins. Its certainly not a culture from the faith.You can't get dispensation and have to marry elsewhere."

That's interesting. As I said, I have an Irish Catholic cousin marrying her Irish Catholic cousin this summer. Wedding booked in local church AFAIK. Will have to investigate that one... although God knows how I'll be able to quiz anyone. I can still see the smoke coming from her father's ears!

Lots of people would feel queasy about their sons marrying a man mrsruffallo - does that make homosexuality morally wrong too?

I wouldn't support a ban on cousins marrying.

I think that everyone should be educated about the genetics of the situation and there should be a register that anyone can go on, regardless of race/religion etc.

I personally know only one child with a genetic condition - cystic fibrosis. Her mum and dad aren't related, they met randomly. Hoever, if there had been a register and testing etc, they might have been able to find out that they were both carriers.

Additionally, many marriages are just that - not everyone wants children. Some people marry very late in life (after child bearing age), so birth defects etc are not an issue. Some people of child bearing age don't want chlidren anyway.

I have 5 male cousins. 2 of them are australian and I have met them once. The other 3, I saw them occasionally as a child. I don't know any of them well at all.

Rockbird, I have just spent some time trawling through the wikipedia entry on cousins marrying and apparently RC 1st cousins can marry if they get a special dispensation, although technically they're not supposed to.

The Anglican church allows 1st cousins to marry - so Henry VIII set that scene, not Queen Vic.

The wiki page is quite interesting if you can be bothered to read it all (it's a long one!)[geek emoticon]

If he was marrying a male cousin yes, I would say it is morally wrong

Do you really not find the thought of your children procreating with your brothers/sisters children morally wrong?

And I don't understand what you are trying to suggest my 'quizzing' me on homosexuality- what exactly is the implication that you are making?

ffs, Alouiseg- firstly you are going to interrogate counsel cousins who plan to marry, to ascertain if the marriage is arranged (??)- then you suggest forced genetic testing, which people then have to pay for?

..and what Riven said upthread- presumably then you'd have similar rules for the over 35s.

I was a bit suprised by that Rockbird. Interesting to see how that is allowed.

Not from my point of view, why would I stop non-related over 35's marrying?
And forced arranged marriages are already investigated

I'm not implying anything mrsruffallo - just pointing out that an individual finding something "queasy" doesn't make it morally wrong.