Time to outlaw cousin marriages?

[mrsruffallo]

Interesting article here
Would you support it being made illegal?

I think you are right, MBC, your exmple of cultural differences doesn't really relate to the subject

It's not just cousin marriages - it's small isolated communities who's members have married on another over generations.

RC does accept cousin marriages- I know of one - no dispensation - big old church wedding and the priest was very well aware of their cousinship. Their child sadly died soon after birth.

But in this small community there are two 'looks', if you like, and there is a high proportion of people there with various disorders and a village full of people with kidney issues and receding jaws. If I were from there I personally not want to have children with my fellow villagers but even the young generation choose to marry one another.

Education is not just for cousin marriages but the risks of breeding closely in long established geographical communities.

I know many many people who have married first cousins and had children. A lot of their children have gone on to marry first cousins too. Many of the parents are high achievers and their children are also very bright too. I'm talking about British Pakistanis in London, B'ham, Glasgow.

I think the figures of children being born with disorders/disabilities as a result of these relationships are being exaggerated.
I don't think a ban is the right way forward.

Where would it end and how would it be governed? Would there also be be a ban on smokers, drug takers, alcoholics, older mothers and young teens having children, just to avoid this? Somehow I think not.

I don't think its morally wrong or primitive, its a matter of choice. I do however, feel that everyone should be able to make informed choices, especially when they're thinking about having children.

I may be wrong but I do think there is another agenda to this being put out as an issue and its not necessarily concern for children.

"Many of the parents are high achievers and their children are also very bright too."

Inbreeding isn't about the stereotypical image of a cross eyed yokel sitting on a porch with webbed fingers and a huge adams apple while playing the banjo.

It's not about intelligence of the children but about their being an increased chance of regressive genetic conditions becoming increasingly common.

Cousins have an increased chance of this due to the likelihood of both of them carrying a regressive inherited gene that has been passed down from the common grandparent.

If cousins keen on marrying cousins then those regressive genes keep floating around rather than getting flushed out by outbreeding. The odds of the defect making an appearance therefore continue to increase.

This is a real and genuine risk that is not being exaggerated. Some simple statistics or a genetic family tree show the risk very clearly.

Should it be banned?

I'm very unsure, probably not, as people have said we don't ban all sorts of other things that lead to increased risks of genetic problems.

However people need to be educated about this and as long as there is an opinion that these risks are being exaggerated then that's clearly not happening.

I haven't read the whole thread but I live in the Arabian Gulf and it is expected for people to marry their first cousin (about 54% do). So much so that when I got married, one lady told me she was sorry for me as my OH is not my cousin.

There is now mandatory pre-marital genetic screening here amongst the local population as one in every 625 newborns is diagnosed with congenital metabolic diseases (very high).

I don't think it should be made illegal but I do think there should be more education about the risks. This has started to work in the UAE and hopefully in other Gulf countries.

Carebear321 "I may be wrong but I do think there is another agenda to this being put out as an issue and its not necessarily concern for children."

What is the other agenda then?

This point did come up earlier on on the thread

Hi, I'm a journalist on a national broadsheet newspaper, writing about cousin relationships. Does anyone have / know of experiences related to this? If so, please get in touch, even if you don't wish to reveal your name. I'd love to hear from you.
[email protected]

Portia - gosh - I think it's more common than we think.

I think there is a cousin baby thingy that went on with one of my ancestors - but luckily my parents completely outbred so I never worry - but I do think the village my dh comes from is very close genetically - local breeding generation after generation with a tiny population - there are about 5 surnames and two looks in the village.

This is outrageous. Personally I would never marry any member of my family, but that is only my opinion. What is being proposed here is just a few steps away from eugenics and 'master races'.

Disagree with the opinion that it is "Muslim-bashing". Some cultures who happen to be Muslim routinely marry cousins. DH is Muslim - cousin marrying is extremely rare in his country of origin. In fact, it is common to refer to your cousins as your brother/sister so obviously marriage would be out of the question.

Also disagree with the opinion that just because something is practised through cultural reasons, then it is automatic right or morally correct. We used to burn eccentric women who lived alone as witches....

Education is the key.

yes - it would obviously be a good idea to outlaw cousin marriages.
just take a look at all the family marriage relationships that already are outlawed between non blood relatives.

A friend of mine is married to her first cousin - they have three healthy sons together.

From a genetic point of view, any healthy, non-carrier of genetic disorders who marries either of my dcs would do better marrying one of his or her cousins.

But I'm not sure how you can ban one person from marrying another just on the argument that if their descendants then go on doing the same thing for generations it will have an adverse genetic effect. That is hardly the responsibility of the first couple, is it?