Cousins getting married :confused:

Humans are 99.99% genetically equal. So it really doesn't matter that much who marries who (inbreeding is a problem, but with the advances in genetic tests we could reduce the risks of inbreeding)

Personally I prefer interracial marriages for genetic diversity. However, in-laws are such a problem in the American society. Supposedly if the parents don't approve of the marriage then the marriage would have 80% rate of failure. At least now the marriage would have the same set of relatives for each parent, reducing the possibility of divorce. The benefit of having the same set of family support would balance out the risk for the genetic diseases.

I think I am speechless.

There is a reason that almost every society in the world, regardless of religion or how isolated they are, has an incest taboo. I'd say second cousins are probably on the gray area of that, but inbreeding does have consequences. Also, the majority of the genetic material between species is also nearly identical, but that doesn't make marrying an animal a great idea. Second cousins is I would say less "wrong" than other forms of incest if that's possible, and the squeamishness surrounding it is newer. Lots of people not too long ago married second cousins... one example that comes to mind immediately is Charles Darwin.
Here's a good Straight Dope article on it:http://www.straightdope.com/columns/041001.html
It doesn't really matter whether we think it's right or wrong though- you would be uncomfortable at said wedding, so don't go. And a little white lie about it to enable peace in the family wouldn't be such a terrible idea either. Just tell them you have to do something else that weekend.

Genetics aside, I just think it's gross. I'm sure that's because of how I was raised and the societal code I am a part of, but to me that's just too close. That's FAMILY, and I really can't even imagine being attracted in that way to any of my cousins except in the same way that I can look at Selma Hayak and Angelina Jolie and say that they are beautiful without being a lesbian.

I agree with Zissou's Mom - don't attend if you would be uncomfortable at the ceremony. Send them a nice card or gift, maybe some flowers, but you're under no obligation to go.

In China people marry second cousins all the time. I guess I don't find that gross because of that.

I Love Siamese, I have to agree with you that it is a bit gross. I can't imagine it. I look at my second cousins as being relatives, and not someone to have romantic feelings for.


Marry your relative to avoid the in-law situation?? You've got to be kidding me. Apparently I am part of the 20% that has yet to fail. I feel any inlaw issues have made us stronger in our bond with each other.

The original poster mentioned that many children in this family have been born with disabilities. I am shocked at the suggestion that we could even consider that inbreeding is ok because it would reduce the divorce rate. Divorce is a problem but to consider putting people at risk of disabilities to minimize that is absurd, imo.

Ilovesiamese, As far as the wedding goes, I don't see any reason why you should feel obligated to attend. I would worry if this were a best friend or close family member. But I think you would be ok missing out on this big day

I don't think so. That's sounds just plain odd to me.

Inbreeding is rarely the direct cause of disability in children. This is a large misconception...it happens no more often than if two non-related individuals decide to have a child, and the child is born with a disability. Disability is more often chromosomally determined, or determined by one parent's genetic composition, rather than a combination of the two parents.

And I'm not sure about the theory of inbreeding to prevent interaction with in-laws, either. Seems a bit out there to me...

Well, love comes in many forms. I personally wouldn't fall for any of my cousins, nor do I think they'd fall for me (what a relief!!!!!!! LOL). But if these cousins happen to love one another in the romantic sense, and are willing to go the distance as a married couple, who am I to judge?

Different strokes, I guess.

I am saying that I don't see how this marriage wouldn't work any less than a normal marriage.

Genetic problems are much easier to prevent than the underlying issues of the marriage. If the underlying love is strong, the marriage would be alright.

It is not the stability of the marriage that is in question....

She stated that this family has a long history of "inbreeding". Not just between 2nd cousins, but 1st cousins as well. They live in a small town, and she mentioned that "many of the children have disabilities". I may be wrong, but it doesn't sound to me like they are taking any precautions as far as preventing genetic problems. She mentioned it has been going on for generations. Sound like a big circle if you ask me, and it just isnt right.

I don't know a lot about genetics. But for those that say inbreeding doesn't really cause genetic problems... why do we preach so hard against backyard breeding in cats (other than the overpopulation problem)? Doesn't that lead to many genetic defects? How would it be any different in humans?

You are absolutely right. Chromosomal abnormalities are far more likely in this situation. than single-point recessive mutations in this matter. Single-point recessive mutations would produce a more uniform phenotype.

Inbreeding causes an increase of recessive genetic diseases. However, if a recessive genetic disease runs in a family, it is easy to test for that. The tests are somewhat expensive, but we have a genetic test for most of the common recessive genetic diseases in Caucasians.

Actually there are many cases where it has been shown that close marriages does increase the frequency of genetic based diseases and abnormalities. The British Royal Family in the previous centuries were proof of this, when a rare genetic abnormality (hemophilia), which is an X-linked recessive disease, and ended up passing this on to more then 20 members of the royal family inheriting the disease. The original mutation has been theorized to be a result of previous inbreeding in the royal family. This link
shows the results of other studies in Japan, Amish communities etc, that scientifically demonstrate (in only a few generations) the impact of inbreeding and close (first cousin) familial marriages. Some of these didn't relate to specific recessive disease:

Quote from link above:
There were significant increases in levels of handicapped offspring associated with inbreeding. Inbreeding was associated with a 37.5% increase in offspring with one or two major handicaps, while it also caused a 24.1% increase in offspring with one or two minor defects. Moreover, inbreeding caused an increase of 31.7% in hearing impairments. Development also seemed to be affected by inbreeding. Children of consanguineous marriages were significantly older than the control group when they first walked and talked.



(i'm going to get off my biologist soapbox now! lol)


As far as the wedding goes...if it makes you feel that uncomfortable, there is no way that the bride (or rest of family) won't pick up on some of those feelings. It's best to make your excuses and send a nice gift.

You are absolutely and totally right.

This family, however, seems to have a chromosomal telosomeric inversion rather than a single point mutation. I am making this guess (without looking at the karyotypes) because of the frequency and the variability across several generations. That doesn't happen a lot with single-point mutations unless there is different imprinting patterns.

(Sorry for using so many technical terms. I am too tired to explain them right now.)

If it is a chromosomal aberration, then inbreeding would probably not increase the rate exponentially. If the fetus inherits two identical chromosomal aberrations, the fetus would probably be automatically aborted during the frist trimester.

You obviously don't know my family

I don't normally remark on this forum, but I am going just going to comment on something keeping my own personal opinions out . I have spent many years researching American family histories In the 1700s and before (even in the 1800's) It was not uncommon to marry a second cousin. I assume that this is because #1 - there weren't that many people to choose from and #2 (at least with my Virginia based families) "marrying in your own class or better" seemed to be important. Shangmei said that it was acceptable in China and it was also this way in America at one time . For those who haven't traced back their own American roots, you may be surprised.

There is a family almost just like this one in my hometown too. Its really disgusting if you ask me. As far as the wedding goes, if it were me, I wouldn't go but I wouldn't feel comfortable telling my husband not to since it is his friend. My hubby would understand why I didn't want to go (I would probably be conviniently sick that day to their knowledge) and I would let him decide for himself if he wanted to be there or not. It is his friend, not yours, and I wouldn't go if I didn't support the marriage, or feel comfortable there.

One of my husbands childhood friends married an awful girl a couple of years ago, and I didn't approve, so I didn't go but my husband did to be there for his friend, and it worked out just fine. Follow YOUR heart and don't worry about what other people think.

It's wrong, end of

Ok, IloveSiamese....I used to live in Saskatoon and I'm glad I left now...
I hear the Deliverance banjos in the background all of a sudden...
(kidding...)

I say let Kyle go and you beg out with alternative previous plans.
Send a card.

It was also important in wealthy families in order to keep the money in the family

You've boggled my mind. I honestly did not know we had a group of people in Canada that married their own cousins. Are they from a special sect?

I am sure there are many but you must not have heard of The Goler Clan?
If not, read the book On South Mountain: The Dark Secrets of the Goler Clan
One of the young males of this family was in my treatment group when I worked in the sex offender unit.

Imagine a lush green valley, dotted with prosperous farms and towns. It could be anywhere in North America—the Okanagan in B.C., the Niagara orchards of Ontario. In this case it happens to be the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia. But on one hill, South Mountain, lives the a clan of impoverished, inbred hillbillies, ignored or shunned by the people in the valley below for two hundred years. Few have much schooling, most are unemployed, and they keep almost entirely to themselves.

Two solitudes side by side, until one day in January 1984, Sandra Golder, aged thirteen, burst into tears in class. When her teacher took her out into the hall to ask her why she was crying, a gruesome story of incest and sexual abuse began to emerge. Within hours the story had spread to the principal, a social worker, and finally the police. Within weeks a full-fledged scandal had been unleashed on the valley: sixteen adults—men and women—from the Mountain were charged with hundreds of allegations of incest and sexual abuse of children as young as five. It gradually became clear that this had been going on for generations, a cycle endlessly repeated.

This book tells the amazing story not only of the court cases that followed, but the way the valley community reacted. Dark secrets weren’t the exclusive property of the Golers: the townspeople had their own, including the fact that some of them had known about the abuse for decades and done nothing about it.

I do not agree with this practice. It is quite abhorrent to me.

That being said, if a family is very inbred, all it takes for the inbreeding coefficient to drop to zero is one generation of outbreeding.

That means that if your second cousin's baby marries an outsider with no relations to the family whatsoever, all the effects of the generations of inbreeding would be negated.

As a Quaker, I know a lot of Mennonites, some who live plain and others who are just like everyone else in society- I haven't met a single mennonite that thinks incest is a good idea. Like anyone else they'd prefer you marry within your denomination- but not to the point of incest.

I can't even imagine dating my second, third, or fourth cousins. I just went to my third cousin's wedding. We are a close family, I can't even imagine my brother being the one to marry her, that would just be nuts. The world isn't that small!!! I think that if it makes you uncomfortable you shouldn't go, nor should you send a gift.

If it makes you feel uncomfortable then I think you have every right not to go but I am usrprised to see how harshly these people are being judged.

Personally, I find it a bit icky and it wouldnt be for me, but if it's legal to do it, surely it cant be that immoral or wrong?!

(I mean the idea of cousins marrying not this particular couple as they have all the genetic issues. in this case I think the coupld should definitly think long and hard before having children, which is now sadly too late).

Each to their own!