Cousin Marriages, Should They Be Made Illegal?

[youngmafbog]

Seems that it causes defects, must admit I wasnt aware that it was that risky, and we're not just talking the Rednecks here.

What about the potential cost to the NHS if new cultures have a more open acceptance of them?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5927581/The-tragic-truth-cousin-marriages.html

[ummmm]

Clarion, I have an autistic child and my OH is def not my cousin.

[anotheoldgit]

naomi24
/// Of course it should be banned, although as has been said, that won’t stop cousins marrying
abroad. ///

Marriages taken place abroad and not under British law, should not be recognised here in the UK.

[naomi24]

aog, crikey! That would mean I'm living in sin!!

[naomi24]

spath, //They’ve been illegal for 400 years no? //

No.

[ummmm]

Don't people marrying abroad just have to produce a marriage cert and register it here?

[naomi24]

ummmm, people who marry abroad don't have to register it here at all. Our law automatically recognises any marriage conducted in law in another country.

[sp1814]

//Marriages taken place abroad and not under British law, should not be recognised here in the UK.//

Hmmm...odd idea.

[naomi24]

Not just odd ... totally impractical.

[jackthehat]

Again, it seems that education is the key.
Although, undoing centuries of cultural attitudes and replacing them with the knowledge that a healthy society requires a larger pool of corresponding healthy genetic material to choose from, does seem a Herculean task.

[-Talbot-]

How much education is needed before you accept that first cousins are 10 times more likely to have disabled kids than the general population?

[ummmm]

It's something I've always known so education isn't aimed at someone like me.

How do you educate people in Pakistan though?

[-Talbot-]

Show them the statistical evidence...

[jackthehat]

Showing them statistical evidence is likely to carry far less weight than the 'familial imperative' to preserve land and money within a small, closely related group of people. The vested-interests would trump the education at every turn.......as it presently stands.

[-Talbot-]

So how are you going to educate them?

[jackthehat]

I'm not.
I'll leave that to people who understand their mindsets and can suggest alternatives whilst still achieving their desired ends...

[douglas9401]

I don't think it can be said too many times, Allah's Bumper Book of Destiny allows followers to act as they like and claim predestiny.

You can't educate that kind of bonus out of people.

[andres]

My aunt and uncle were cousins. They had five children --three with medical problems.

[andres]

^^^They were Yorkshire born and bred.

[ummmm]

Lol...does that make a difference?

Two of my dads cousins are married but they got married past child bearing age.