Facts about marriages to cousins

Interesting, Gael, but caution is still advisable.

In some families and societies there can be hidden defects which are the result of recessive genes. I'm thinking about cystic fibrosis and sickle cell anaemia. This is more likely to manifest when the family or society has be closed off geographically in the past, allowing a build up of these genes in the population. For these people, inbreeding within the family in those circumstances is very unwise. In fact even inbreeding within the wider community is problematic and opening up to total outsiders is a much better option. Hydbridisation tends to strengthen a population by introducing genetic diversity.

Double cousins should not marry because they are as close genetically as brother and sister. Double cousins are the offspring produced when two brothers of one family marry two sisters of another family. Their children are closer genetically than other first cousins because they all share the same grandparents.
 
Warrigal said:
Interesting, Gael, but caution is still advisable.

In some families and societies there can be hidden defects which are the result of recessive genes. I'm thinking about cystic fibrosis and sickle cell anaemia. This is more likely to manifest when the family or society has be closed off geographically in the past, allowing a build up of these genes in the population. For these people, inbreeding within the family in those circumstances is very unwise. In fact even inbreeding within the wider community is problematic and opening up to total outsiders is a much better option. Hydbridisation tends to strengthen a population by introducing genetic diversity.

Double cousins should not marry because they are as close genetically as brother and sister. Double cousins are the offspring produced when two brothers of one family marry two sisters of another family. Their children are closer genetically than other first cousins because they all share the same grandparents.
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I agree. We have enough problems with genetic disease without adding to the odds.
 

We have close friends who are cousins-their grandmothers are sisters. They have three children,all now adults,and all healthy. Hmmm,I`ve never even considered this before though....their firstborn,a girl,has let it be known,since she was a young teen,that she is gay. But a few months ago,our friends called and asked us to lunch-a bit strange as they live three hours away and drove all the way up here just to meet us for lunch. Very shortly after lunch began,they dropped a bombshell,so to speak. Their daughter is no longer Sarah,she is now known as Spencer and is undergoing gender reassignment surgery. Dh and I both felt that they had used us as a test to gauge how their friends might react to this news. I don`t mean "used us" in a bad way,just that they maybe felt safe trying it out on us because we do live so far away. But it is also possible that they knew I had a bit of a bond with Sarah as I was present at her birth. Who knows? Anyway,would you think it`s possible that their being cousins could have been the reason for this genetic mixup? I hadn`t really thought of that til now.....
 
KissinCousins.jpg
 
Mrs. Robinson said:
We have close friends who are cousins-their grandmothers are sisters. They have three children,all now adults,and all healthy. Hmmm,I`ve never even considered this before though....their firstborn,a girl,has let it be known,since she was a young teen,that she is gay. But a few months ago,our friends called and asked us to lunch-a bit strange as they live three hours away and drove all the way up here just to meet us for lunch. Very shortly after lunch began,they dropped a bombshell,so to speak. Their daughter is no longer Sarah,she is now known as Spencer and is undergoing gender reassignment surgery. Dh and I both felt that they had used us as a test to gauge how their friends might react to this news. I don`t mean "used us" in a bad way,just that they maybe felt safe trying it out on us because we do live so far away. But it is also possible that they knew I had a bit of a bond with Sarah as I was present at her birth. Who knows? Anyway,would you think it`s possible that their being cousins could have been the reason for this genetic mixup? I hadn`t really thought of that til now.....
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I would question whether it would be responsible for someone being transgender. It's not an inherited disease afterall.

And I hope that Spencer finds happiness
on this road he's chosen. It will be a challenge to put it mildly and he probably needs all the support he can find.
 
I hope he finds happiness as well. He actually sounds like he`s doing very well. Plus,he lives in San Francisco,so very few people there judge whatever your lifestyle or personal choices are-not that Spencer`s decision was a choice,he was just born a different gender than what he feels that he is.
 
I don't have any objections to cousins marrying so long as they are both healthy, my only concerns are with people who are donating Sperm and eggs for IVF where the donors are not known because later in life those children could end up marrying their brothers or sisters.
 
nan said:
I don't have any objections to cousins marrying so long as they are both healthy, my only concerns are with people who are donating Sperm and eggs for IVF where the donors are not known because later in life those children could end up marrying their brothers or sisters.
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That's always bothered me too. People generally live and marry in the area where they were born. It's possible an unknown doner could be responsible for hundreds of births over the years in one general area; it seems highly possible blood relatives could come in contact and not know it. That's spooky.
 
lonelynorthwind said:
That's always bothered me too. People generally live and marry in the area where they were born. It's possible an unknown doner could be responsible for hundreds of births over the years in one general area; it seems highly possible blood relatives could come in contact and not know it. That's spooky.
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Present day technology presents a myriad of moral, ethical and health dilemmas never before faced.
 
Sheesh-I was trying to post this last night but my internet connection was napping,I think. In my opinion, the chances of siblings meeting and marrying (or at least procreating together) is much less a worry with the number of sperm donors out there and much more a concern due to the morals of some of the population. My foster girls families are a perfect case in point. The two of them are half sisters-same mom. The oldest has 18 siblings (that she knows of-I`m sure there are more) All but two are from her dad. The younger one has no idea how many siblings she might have-she knows of 3 but you can bet there are others. I guess the fact that her dad has spent quite a few years in prison has helped keep the number down somewhat. There is some kind of a connection between both though,where the families "mix". Since all live in adjoining (small) counties,I`m sure as the years pass,the likelihood of siblings getting together will increase. The girls therapist and their social worker tell me that they have tried to put together a family tree in order to keep track of who all the "players" are, but have given up...too confusing. There is also a young man here in our county that I know-he has at least nine children with as many as 8 women. A friend of my son`s has two of his children-his parental rights have been severed and the girls no longer use his last name. So it`s not inconceivable that they could meet up (unknowingly) with one of their siblings. Some people think nothing of creating children all over the place.
 
Mrs. Robinson said:
Sheesh-I was trying to post this last night but my internet connection was napping,I think. In my opinion, the chances of siblings meeting and marrying (or at least procreating together) is much less a worry with the number of sperm donors out there and much more a concern due to the morals of some of the population. My foster girls families are a perfect case in point. The two of them are half sisters-same mom. The oldest has 18 siblings (that she knows of-I`m sure there are more) All but two are from her dad. The younger one has no idea how many siblings she might have-she knows of 3 but you can bet there are others. I guess the fact that her dad has spent quite a few years in prison has helped keep the number down somewhat. There is some kind of a connection between both though,where the families "mix". Since all live in adjoining (small) counties,I`m sure as the years pass,the likelihood of siblings getting together will increase. The girls therapist and their social worker tell me that they have tried to put together a family tree in order to keep track of who all the "players" are, but have given up...too confusing. There is also a young man here in our county that I know-he has at least nine children with as many as 8 women. A friend of my son`s has two of his children-his parental rights have been severed and the girls no longer use his last name. So it`s not inconceivable that they could meet up (unknowingly) with one of their siblings. Some people think nothing of creating children all over the place.
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Oww, my head hurts trying to take this all in! What a tangled web!:crying:
 
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