Marriage between cousins is fine, say scientists

[The_Other_Admin]

Marriage between cousins is fine, say scientists

Babies born as a result of marriages between first cousins are at no greater risk than those born to women over 40, a study claims.


By Ben Leach
Last Updated: 12:17PM GMT 24 Dec 2008

Scientists at the University of Massachusetts in Boston have called for the taboo on first-cousin families to be lifted.

They claim that the risk of giving birth to babies with genetic defects is no greater than that run by women over 40 who become pregnant.

First-cousin marriages are legal in the UK but there have been calls to ban the practice because of the number of genetic defects recorded in some communities.

Professor Diane Paul of the University of Massachusetts in Boston and Professor Hamish Spencer of the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand have looked at the risk of defects in such babies.

They claim that the risk of congenital defects is about 2 per cent higher that average, and the infant mortality rate about 4.4 per cent higher, for babies born to first-cousin marriages.

This is on a par with the risk to babies born to women over 40, they claim.

Professor Spencer said: "Women over the age of 40 have a similar risk of having children with birth defects and no one is suggesting they should be prevented from reproducing."

The study is published in the online journal Public Library of Science.

MP Phil Woolas, now the Immigration minister, claimed earlier this year that first-cousin marriages within Asian communities in Britain resulted in an increasing number of children with health problems.

Most states in America have either outlawed or restricted the practice, as has China, Taiwan and both North and South Korea.

Professor Spencer, an evolutionary zoologist, said these laws should be repealed, especially in America, where he said they were drafted in a way that discriminated against the rural poor and immigrants.

He said: "Neither the scientific nor social assumptions behind such legislation stand up to close scrutiny.

"Such legislation reflects outmoded prejudices about immigrants and the rural poor and relies on over-simplified views of heredity.

"There is no scientific grounding for it."



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/family/39...cientists.html

[Ratatosk]

Salam,

A strange thing, indeed.

If I'd have, say, a daughter, I would find marrying her off to my brothers son unthinkable. And to think of them having conjugal relations is to me revolting beyond measure. I find the thought utterly vile and repulsive to a level of which I have no concept.

Not only that, but the risks -- as mentioned -- of the offspring having genetic defects, deformations and mental incapacitation is just a mere 1300% higher than in non-incestuous couplings.

Oh ya, there's this: the risks of cousin marriage.

The myth of relationship stability when marrying within the family is just that; a myth. Incestuous marriages have a much higher rate of adultery, spousal abuse and divorce. Add to that the higher number of retarded children, and I have a hard time understanding why such a custom is being condoned and in some cases even recommended. But I guess that's just me.

The phenomenon/instinct called genetic sexual aversion, a biological 'safe guard' to prevent defective genes being passed on, creates in most of us an abhorrence for sleeping with, say, our parents, siblings or children. Further, when not moderated by societal expectations, this biologically dictated aversion 'wears off' by the fourth to fifth generation. That means our cousin's cousin's children. In societies where marriages are often arranged before the person is even born, there is a societal and cultural suppression of this aversion. The result: a significantly higher percentage of infant mortality, birth defects and mental incapacitation.

Be that as it may, there are seemingly people that have a totally different concept of what's acceptable, both from a medical and societal point-of-view. Meet the Stübings, a german brother-sister couple have been hiding from the law for years, and have spawned four children during their incestuous relationship. That two of the kids are mentally retarded, one of whom cannot walk, has not lit any semblance of light bulb in these two love birds craniums.

Behold.
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German court upholds incest law

Germany's highest court has upheld the law making incest a criminal offence, rejecting an appeal from a man who has had four children with his sister.

A German brother and sister are challenging the law against incest so that they can continue their relationship free from the threat of imprisonment.

Patrick Stübing, an unemployed locksmith, and his sister Susan have had four children together since starting a sexual relationship in 2000. Three of the children are in foster care, and two have 'unspecified disabilities'.

Says their lawyer, "Under Germany's criminal code, which dates back to 1871, it is a crime for close relatives to have sex and it's punishable by up to three years in prison. This law is out of date and it breaches the couple's civil rights," Dr Wilhelm said.

"Why are disabled parents allowed to have children, or people with hereditary diseases or women over 40? No-one says that is a crime.

"This couple are not harming anyone. It is discrimination. And besides, we must not forget that every child is so valuable," said Dr Wilhelm.
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Regards,

[vinod]

My grandparents were cousins. What do I think about marrying my cousins? We were all trained to address each other as brother and sister. So I cannot begin to think of marrying my "cousin sister". What do we think about our grandparents? There is often a mention of it in conversations and that's about it. We feel no revulsion of any sorts. I would definietly take offence if someone referred to it as incest.

Even in south Indian non-Urdu speaking muslim families in India, the tradition of referring to cousins as 'cousin-brother' or 'cousin-sister' exists. I don't know about the Urdu speaking muslims of India. Do they accept marriage between cousins? Never asked one about that.

My Pakistani house mates tell me that although nobody reacts strongly to the idea it is common practice NOT to get married to cousins.

[Ratatosk]

Salam,

Of course I meant no offence. As I mentioned, it's probably just me. On top of that, I'm just as much a victim of cultural conditioning and social programming as anyone else and I probably partake in customs that many would find utterly repugnant.

Be that as it may, the population of the world today is a lot more mobile than the people of yesteryear, so it's not uncommon for people to find their spouse from the opposite side of the planet. Our social circles have grown exponentially, of which this very forum is a well enough example.

Et cetera. It's a big, big issue when you start thinking about it.

Regards,

[MF]

aside from incest.. what do you think about woman above 40 having children if the risk is so high? What does Islam say about the risk?

[junaid]

My Pakistani house mates tell me that although nobody reacts strongly to the idea it is common practice NOT to get married to cousins.

I am not sure on that one. Cousin marriages have been part of the Pakistani society. Parents in villages bethrote their young ones to their cousins at quite an early age. Only recently a Pakistani drama 'Doraha' casually depicts it. The mother gets her son divorced from his love interest and gets him married to his cousin (her sister's daughter) as she always wanted that to happen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqWwS73GD4E