Marrying cousins still face obstacles

[Township75]

Best anyone can tell, Eleanor Amrhein and Donald W. Andrews Sr. can blame their sudden quasi-celebrity on rocker-turned-pariah Jerry Lee Lewis.

When Lewis married his 13-year-old cousin in 1958, America thereafter soured on the idea of "kissing cousins," and people like Amrhein and Andrews -- first cousins from the Altoona area who tried, but failed, to get a Pennsylvania marriage license last month -- have had a rough time of beating the taboo.

Before the Lewis scandal, due as much to the young wife's age as the pair's shared genes, America mostly turned a blind eye to cousins who married, and in fact many of us who can trace our lineage back far enough will find a "consanguineal" couple or two. The rest of the civilized world doesn't seem to care, either. Charles Darwin married his first cousin, Emma Wedgwood, and spawned 10 kids, four of them scientists, as supporters of "cousin couples" like to point out. Albert Einstein's second wife was, in fact, his first cousin, and Einstein's no dummy.

Post-war America, it seems, is unique in its societal disdain for cousins who marry. In Europe, the Middle East and elsewhere, the marriage of first cousins is more common and less profane.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05094/482448.stm

[Botany]

1. But their whole clan can still vote republican.

Kids too. "Daddy 'cause I haver 6 fingers kin I fote 6 timez?"

[Deep13]

2. At the risk of seeming trashy ...

... I agree. What's the big deal?

[Warpy]

5. Unless there's some sort of awful genetic disease

in their family (and even then, they can get genetic testing and counseling to assess the real risk), there should be no problem at all. There is generally not much of a problem if siblings marry, although most of us have a massive "ick" factor over that one.

There is no big deal.

[Deep13]

10. Ick factor

Yeah, I'm not talking about siblings. I think the ick factor was installed by evolution to promote genetic diversity. It seems to be shared among most mammals. There is a lot more genetic diversity among cousins (especially once you get into removed generations and second cousins) than among siblings and I think in the former case the risk of genetic defects is really exagerated in the public perception.

[Dufaeth]

3. I read about a study where

fruit flies that were nearly genetically perfect were inbred for numerous generations and they didn't have problems. The problems come when the line already has a strong genetic flaw that is brought out because both parents have it.

[shamalama]

12. I still just don't know ...

I still just don't know if being inbred for numerous generations is something we should consider. Fruit flies are one thing - humans are quite another. Something just "feels" wrong about it.

[Dufaeth]

15. I'm not advocating it! :)

Just an intersting tidbit.

[demnan]

4. When I think of cousins marrying

I just think of this picture. I'm sorry if that's unfair, it's just that I think this woman must be the result of many cousin marriages.

[Warpy]

6. Nah, blame poverty and ignorance more than inbreeding

[Gildor Inglorion]

7. The Royal Families of Europe....

have been marrying first cousins for hundreds & hundreds of years. Queen Victoria married her first cousin. The result? Homely but basically talented & decent people, with a hemophiliac or two thrown in for good measure.

[yellowcanine]

9. Well - the royal families are an argument AGAINST the practice, imo.

Prince Charlie isn't just an ugly face - he is not all that bright, either, imo. But maybe you were being sarcastic?

[bleedingheart]

13. Actually far worse problems...the Hapsburgs intermarried so much

that eventually one of them was so deformed he couldn't even chew his own food... (I think it was Charles V...but I would have to look it up)....

[yellowcanine]

8. Err...Family reunions shouldn't be dating opportunities, imo

First cousins marrying is not a good practice - may be ok now and then but if it happens for several generations in a row it could cause major problems. There is no question that the risk of genetic diseases increases with too little genetic distance between spouses. The Amish have a lot of genetic depression, dwarfism, hemophilia and several metabolic diseases precisely as a result of too much inbreeding.

[Deep13]

11. Yes, but ...

... they are a completely closed community. I don't know that one can really analogize that to society as a whole.

[bleedingheart]

16. you are correct ...

the more interbreeding the worse things get...and the Amish have done it so much they have a "special" look about them...

[CJCRANE]

18. True.

However, another reason (in traditional societies) for cousin-marrying is to keep property,land and wealth consolidated within the family (i.e. not share it out with newcomers).

On edit: Also, if a woman marries a cousin on her father's side, she doesn't have to change her surname!

[bleedingheart]

14. I have a great aunt who was married to her uncle..

technically by today's standards the uncle would have been thrown in jail...

She was 13, he was in his late twenties...he molested her on the family farm until he got her pregnant.
He then threatened to kill her parents (his brother and his wife) if they didn't give her to him in marriage.

She had only one child with him and then left him when she was about 17...

The child was normal.

[SuffragetteSal]

17. I come from a very large family

and had found a cousin or two quite attractive while in my teens...good thing I didn't marry them though for both are now Republicans!

If it was good enough for Einstein...