‘Cousin marriage’ doubles gene risk for babies: Study

[joekrish]

not only south Indian......i have seen this practice in Punjab also specially immigrant Sindhi.....when i was living in Ludhiana Punjab...... as per my information (some of my close friend are Muslim) now this days even literate Muslim is also avoiding they don't prefer marriage with cousin .

Good to know education is bringing about the change.

 

[AirDefence]

By that logic Pakistan should have the worlds biggest population of genetically defect people- is it so?-

but you are proceeding towards that one .

Marrying in the same group of family causes very hard problems for immunity . It slowly destroys the immune system . So please think before doing that.

 

[SMC]

So guys, I am indifferent to cousin marriages. I don't support them, I don't oppose them. I don't care if one marries their cousin. I do argue that there isn't any significant genetic risk in marrying a cousin. The risk is increased, but not significantly enough, for people to bother.

There was something that occurred to me though. Aren't we all, technically, coming from cousin marriages way up in our ancestry chain? I know that we're going back probably tens of thousands of year, if not more, but the point remains relevant, in that if cousin marriages were problematic genetically then we'd all have genetic defects as well.

Second, if doubling the risk of genetic defects means going from a 1% chance of genetic defects to 2%, that is still OK. Going from, for e.g., 5% to 10% (which is still a doubling) would be much worse though. But if we're talking small numbers, I am not sure I see a problem.

but you are proceeding towards that one .

Marrying in the same group of family causes very hard problems for immunity . It slowly destroys the immune system . So please think before doing that.

How is Pakistan heading toward that? We've had cousin marriages for ages, yet there is no issue in genetic defects.

 

[third eye]

The Parsi community is an example.

There are only 100,000 Parsis in the world today, mostly in India, particularly in Bombay. Demographically, they are a dying community- deaths outweigh births. Parsis like to quote a remark that Mahatma Gandhi once reportedly made, "In
numbers Parsis are beneath contempt, but in contribution, beyond compare." Out of an Indian population, Parsis number a mere 76,000.

Genetic disorders in this community have been attributed to closed inter racial marriages. A person can only be born a Parsi hence even inter religion marriages do not help.

 

[Koovie]

How can you marry and have sex with family members?!

Thats really disgusting and creepy

 

[A.Rafay]

How can you marry and have sex with family members?!

Thats really disgusting and creepy

Jamie lannister doesn't like you! I heard he is coming to kill you! You maybe crippled!

P.S Im anti cousin marriage.

 

[Awesome]

For all those foolish people going about saying cousin marriages are disgusting and what not... Don't you have any tact? There might be people here who are in cousin marriages or their parents were. So use some better judgment, foo!

 

[RAW007]

Cousin Marriage is common mainly among Pakistanis and South Indians.

 

[KingMamba]

How can you marry and have sex with family members?!

Thats really disgusting and creepy

It used to be traditional to marry ones cousin for many reasons, political, "zaat", to keep ones wealth in the family, etc. Europe stopped this practice when they became educated and learned the risks it can cause to offspring but unfortunately in the places where illiteracy is still common place it still goes on although there is much growing awareness to the issue.

 

[Abingdonboy]

Pakistanis really need to breed outside, even arabs these days dont marry their cousins

btw, do sikhs marry their cousins? I know Tamils do

Sikhs do NOT marry their cousins.

 

[livingdead]

For all those foolish people going about saying cousin marriages are disgusting and what not... Don't you have any tact? There might be people here who are in cousin marriages or their parents were. So use some better judgment, foo!

Well arranged marriege is disgusting to me.(some did not like me saying that in love vs arrage marriage thread) Even though majority people who I know got married that way. As long as I dont specifically point finger at somebody, one should not take offence.

Cousin Marriage is common mainly among Pakistanis and South Indians.

i know indian muslims and some south indian hindus do it . Not christians or sikhs..

 

[Dubious]

yuck.. marrying a cousin is like sleeping with brother/sister.. Its incest..

Spoken like a true gora (wanna be since you are Indian)...It is ONLY incest in the West...Because like @Myth_buster_1 cousins are cousins....All have ATLEAST 50% of foreign DNA (from 1 of their parents who is NOT ALWAYS related to you) and are not 100% your progeny and YES like @Raja.Pakistani said there is a genetic disorder then the POSSIBILITY of passing it on increases....

Somehow West sees it ok for same gender marriage but GOD forbid anyone marrying their cousin!

 

[Dubious]

It is a quite common practice in south India also, I'm one of those who strongly advocates against marriages between blood relations. My parents were first cousins and hence I suffer from a eye disorder called Coloboma of the iris and have a vision of less than 5%on one eye and blind on the other.

Coloboma of the iris: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia

Is it worth it for your children to suffer for the mistake you do is a call you and only you can take.

The normal risk of gene abnormalities is 1%, double it and it becomes 2%. In UAE to get married you need to get both sides tested for genetic diseases (I don't remember if it was for possible genetic abnormalities too). Just make that mandatory in Pakistan as well.

It should be done for all those who do marry in cousins....In genetics do see a prob...but the percentage is significant if >2 generations has done this...

Moreover, it does limit the gene pool BUT it is not something that should be frowned upon as it is not something crazy or unheard off...

It used to be traditional to marry ones cousin for many reasons, political, "zaat", to keep ones wealth in the family, etc. Europe stopped this practice when they became educated and learned the risks it can cause to offspring but unfortunately in the places where illiteracy is still common place it still goes on although there is much growing awareness to the issue.

the west prob cut it out after Queen Victoria was found to be Haemophilia carrier and passed it over a large family tree...

Haemophilia has featured prominently in European royalty and thus is sometimes known as 'the royal disease'. Queen Victoria passed the mutation for Haemophilia B to her son Leopold and, through some of her daughters, to various royals across the continent, including the royal families of Spain, Germany, and Russia. In Russia, Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, son of Nicholas II, was a descendant of Queen Victoria through his mother Empress Alexandra and suffered from haemophilia.
It was claimed that Rasputin was successful at treating Tsarevich's haemophilia. At the time, a common treatment administered by professional doctors was to use aspirin, which worsened rather than lessened the problem. It is believed that, by simply advising against the medical treatment, Rasputin could bring visible and significant improvement to the condition of Tsarevich.
In Spain, Queen Victoria's youngest daughter, Princess Beatrice, had a daughter Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, who later became Queen of Spain. Two of her sons were haemophiliacs and both died from minor car accidents. Her eldest son, Prince Alfonso of Spain, Prince of Asturias, died at the age of 31 from internal bleeding after his car hit a telephone booth. Her youngest son, Infante Gonzalo, died at age 19 from abdominal bleeding following a minor car accident where he and his sister hit a wall while avoiding a cyclist. Neither appeared injured or sought immediate medical care and Gonzalo died two days later from internal bleeding.

However, yea genetic testing should be more or less compulsory or like some Chinese they just do not marry people with the same sir name or clan name or something...

How can you marry and have sex with family members?!

Because there are many who do not really care how the West brain washes your mind

Plus many do not live next door to their cousins and think of them as their siblings....Though some just do it out of culture .....

 

[liontk]

Cousin marriage hmmm Even if the genetic risk is low, it does have that negative connotation attached to it. I mean cousins are like best friends but they are also your family, I don't know but the idea of cousins marrying has a tinge of incest from my perspective. I know I am being closed minded and I do apologize if your family has some cousin marriage but this is how I feel towards it. To be honest, I can't think of any Pakistan family in the diaspora with significant ancestry indulging in cousin marriage not that there is anything wrong with it but it seems out of place and just has a negative connotation and just strange.

 

[Abingdonboy]

Spoken like a true gora (wanna be since you are Indian)...It is ONLY incest in the West...Because like @Myth_buster_1 cousins are cousins....All have ATLEAST 50% of foreign DNA (from 1 of their parents who is NOT ALWAYS related to you) and are not 100% your progeny and YES like @Raja.Pakistani said there is a genetic disorder then the POSSIBILITY of passing it on increases....

Somehow West sees it ok for same gender marriage but GOD forbid anyone marrying their cousin!

Why is it that if you don't believe in medieval practices you are a "gora"? You can justify it how you like but from an objective POV it is incredibly unnatural in the 21st century. This may offend your belifs and for that I do apoligise.