Why do we have to be disgusted of cousin romances?

Whoa - but recent studies say that genetics is not an issue. Even more so with you second cousin, third cousin, etc. Besides, isn’t cool? Marriage can rekindle kinship ties - I just don’t see why a lot of people don’t see this line of thinking…

i think third cousin would be ok but i would never think about marriage to my first and seconds cousins thats crazy

but genetics IS an issue. I would like to read these studies you mentioned because it makes sense for genetics to be an issue. If you have a defective gene and you pass it on to a baby, the other parent can pass on a functioning gene that overrides it. if, however, the parents are genetically related, it is far more likely that BOTH copies of the gene will be defective. Simple.

because it’s incest!

Hmmm, then the same goes for unrelated couples as well - doesn’t the law of genetics state that the traits of the parents determine the traits of the offspring? If both parents are normal, then it goes to show that the baby they’ll have will be normal as well - the fact is true both for genetically-unrelated spouses and for cousin couples. If I have fiancee, who is not related to me by blood, has ancestors or she herself has any history of genetic defects then my child with her will definitely inherit those defects. I’ll post links and for the rest, I’ll try to have them scanned - some of them are papers published locally and still aren’t posted online.

yeah but you have more than one copy of every gene so just because you are “normal” doesnt mean you dont have a genetic defect which is being overridden by another copy of the same gene that is functional. You dont get to choose which gene the baby gets and it may get the one that is not working. And yes, this can occur with unrelated couples but the frequency increases hugely when the parents are genetically related because any mutations in the genetic code may have been inherited from the same source and you put defective copies together and the baby has that defect even if niether of the parents do

its incest, not allowed in most areas of the world i think and there are 6.7billion and more people in the world so why chose your cousin, maybe thats why

I have two sets of first cousins who are married - with children.

The children are healthy, intelligent and happy (they are in their late teens and early twenties now).

Consider the remote community we live in (they’ve moved to cities now), 600 people and at least a quarter of that is family. Back when they married, there wasn’t much of an option.

I have no concerns with first cousins marrying and there is more proof showing that it’s safe for them to reproduce than otherwise.

First cousins - I could say no, but second cousins? Fine by me…

I so love to hear this from you :-)

I don’t think so - In a lot of areas in Asia, Europe, Africa, South America and the Middle East it is allowed (especially in Mid-East, African and Asian societies, it is highly encouraged and viewed as an ideal marriage).

I just notice that in the US as well as with countries once under US rule (like the Philippines and Japan) attitudes and laws against cousin relationships and marriages are present - and it is highly strong in the Philippines (but not so in Japan). Those countries once practiced cousin marriages without fear and prejudice in their ancient pasts…

Because you were made to think that it is?