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Kissing Cousins?

The article goes on to describe the added risk for birth defects, which does exist, but is small. It mentions that these marriages are common in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. They are legal in Europe and Canada, but it didn't say they were common.

What do you think? Should it be allowed? Many of us in the States are probably biased against this because of culture, but it is a common practice in other parts of the world.

My great-grandmother's second husband was her first cousin. (My grandmother was from the first marriage ) She tried hard to cover this fact up. So, apparently, there was even a stigma back then. I can say several of those children had questionable levels of intelligence, but was this from being "back-woods" in the early part of the 1900's or from a birth problem caused by the close relationship of the parents? I don't know.

Do you think people should be allowed to risk such things? If not, then why not?

If your objection is that they shouldn't be allowed to risk bringing a child into the world who might suffer from genetic defects, then perhaps all couples should be required to have genetic testing so that no one is ever born with a genetic disorder again.

Edited: funbikerchick on 5th Apr, 2005 - 6:00pm

Cousins Kissing

I have some experience with this, not personally, but in my family. My mother's brother married his first cousin. She was my mother's father's sister's daughter. They have had 3 kids, and they are not mutants or genetically imbalanced. Two of them are twins. They live normal lives. So, I can say that there is no evidence from my experience that there is a genetic imbalance. However, the moral issue, like Tena pointed out, is ingrained into us from an early age. Therefore, that is where my problem lies with the issue. I love my aunt and uncle and their kids very much, and will never treat them differently because of this issue, but I don't agree with it.

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Personally, I don't hold with laws that infringe upon peoples freedom... within reason, so I think people should be able to marry whoever they want to. I certainly don't believe that the government should have any right to say which two people are fit to have children together and which two cannot. Generally, I'm all for people doing whatever they want as long as they harm no one else--"but what about that child" you might object. Well, as Funbikerchick suggests, people get together with flawed genetics all the time, but nobody harasses them for it.

Additionally, during pregnancy, certain habits of the mother may have adverse side-effects upon the fetus, but these things are not illegal just because they subject an unborn to additional risk. It's true that it is unwise to compound your percentages of something going wrong, but I believe that adults should be able to make their own decision on the matter.
-Unferth

Cousins Kissing

Cousins married to each other was very common not long ago and in some cases was even required in royalty or close knit families / clans. However, these days most people believe there are 'too many fish in the sea' to marry someone so closely related, but for me it should not matter so long as it is true love.

Cousins Kissing

One thing I will add is that many royals suffer from hemophilia as a result of such in-marriage. So, when close relatives marry, there definitely is some consequence beyond culture. However, I think it should be allowed, but if we are going to allow that what about brothers and sisters? Is that acceptable, as well?

Kissing Cousins?

There are over six billion people on this planet. If one's first cousin is his best choice for marriage, he needs to get out of his catatonic hometown bubble and meet some people.

Kissing Cousins

Howe, although I agree that there can be many people we can marry and with which we can live happily, but it is not always the case. Sometimes the other potential side does not see it in the same light. Having strict requirements may also be a barrier (religion, social class, intelligence). Does it really matter if it happens to be your cousin? In what way is it so politically incorrect?

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Yes, inbreeding can bring serious problems. However, that happens over several generations. For probably about 99.9999% of the time, there is just as much variation between 1st cousins as between two strangers.

In my family, my parents are not related in any significant way (you would probably have to go back to the middle ages to find any points of consanguinity). However, their genes matched up just great to bring about serious birth defects to my two brothers.

Many cultures allow marriage of first cousins, with very little, if any, more genetic problems than those cultures that don't allow it.

If someone falls in love with their first cousin, I think they should be allowed to marry. That is the key point - allow. It is a matter of personal liberty and societal norm, not government.