MP calls for first-cousin marriage to be banned

BBC ^ | 12 10 2024 | Staff

[Dr. Franklin]

So the British royal family will need to stop doing this now.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Seems Islamophobic. 🤡

[chajin]

Practically every royal ruler during WWI was a descendant of Queen Victoria, and she died in 1901.

Also, in Jane Austen’s last novel, “Persuasion,” Anne Elliott, the protagonist, almost marries her first cousin, but decides against it, not because he was her first cousin, but because he was a con man, and she loved Captain Frederick Wentworth more, anyway.

[Dr. Franklin]

IQ and first cousin marriage https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289608001608

Actually, the study referenced the children of double first cousins. There is a big difference, between first cousins who aren't inbred marrying and those who are inbred marrying:

"The study of Bashi (1977) revealed that the extent to which consanguinity affects IQ is proportional to the degree of inbreeding. He found that based on the outcomes of three tests of cognitive ability, the children of double first-cousins (within an Arab population) exhibited on average significantly greater inbreeding depression of test scores than the children of first-cousins, who in turn scored lower than the children of non-consanguineous parents. Bashi also noted that the children of double first-cousins exhibited larger variance in test scores than the children of first-cousins. These findings tend to disconfirm environmentalist theories such as those of Kamin (1980), who proposed that socioeconomic status is the dominant factor in determining the IQ of the offspring of consanguineous mating."

[Repeat Offender]

The “royal” family will be exempt of course….they’re free to continue making their family tree a wreath.

[Dr. Franklin]

Practically every royal ruler during WWI was a descendant of Queen Victoria, and she died in 1901.

Back when people were expected to marry, the elites married among themselves closely. There is a bit of sociology in that as well as history.

Also, in Jane Austen’s last novel, “Persuasion,” Anne Elliott, the protagonist, almost marries her first cousin, but decides against it, not because he was her first cousin, but because he was a con man, and she loved Captain Frederick Wentworth more, anyway.

Some of those old fashioned marriages of convenience were likely what we call bearded marriages today. A homosexual man would marry a homosexual cousin and no one needed to know their private sexual preferences. Not surprisingly, they often didn't produce offspring.

[Lee N. Field]

Is this ‘a thing’ in the UK?

It's a thing in a lot of the places many current UK residents come from.

[clee1]

True, thats why European royalty had such problems 15-18th centuries.

[EnderWiggin1970]

Probably more of an issue with Muslim immigrants, but yes, it was commonplace in the past. Charles Darwin married his first cousin for example. The evolutionary thinking of the time was that “superior” folks should keep breeding together in tight circles to keep their gene pool pure and strong (think of royal intermarriage for example). Ironically it was the worst possible approach to this topic.

[eccentric]

You are correct that one generation of cousin marriage is not a problem. But Muslims keep up the cousin marriage for MANY generation, until it is basically sibling marriage.

[Vesuvian]

Wow, Hapsburgs!

[metmom]

Screams of *islamapbobia to commence immediately.

[Verginius Rufus]

At one time the Habsburgs were famous for making advantageous marriages to heiresses (and then inheriting that territory). Somewhere along the way the Spanish Habsburgs forgot that and the result was a disaster in the case of Carlos II. But an earlier member of the family had married into the French royal family which led to Louis XIV being able to get his grandson accepted as King of Spain (the beginning of the Borbon line).

[Georgia Girl 2]

In other words no Muslims will be allowed to marry. 😆

[FlyingEagle]

Iqbal Mohammed knows what it good for you Englishmen.

[Verginius Rufus]

Some anthropologist, maybe Margaret Mead, asked some "primitive" tribe why they did not permit brother-sister marriages. They looked at her as if she was crazy. "Why, in that case, a man wouldn't have any brothers-in-law!"

My grandfather's brother married his first cousin once removed (in Europe, not the US) and they had five children. One died at birth but the other four had long lives. Only one of them married and she had no biological children (she adopted the son of her husband, whose first wife had died).

My grandparents on one side seem to have been third cousins once removed. I think that is distant enough not to be a cause for concern.

[Gay State Conservative]

later

[Rummyfan]

Most cultures learned centuries ago that first-cousin marriage is a bad practice.

[Huskrrrr]

Or you attend a family reunion to meet women.

[lastchance]

Say what you will about the Habsburg lip it beat the inconvenience of always having to carry paper proof of royal parentage on one’s person.