Posted on 06/06/2008 1:48:30 PM PDT by Bushwacker777
"MELBOURNE: The belief that babies born to first-cousins will suffer from some kind of deformities is all a myth, say researchers in Australia. "
(Excerpt) Read more at timesofindia.indiatimes.com ...
-—wonder about multiple generations , like some of the followers of Islam do?
I’m divorcing my wife and calling my cousin Jill to see if she’s open for dinner on Saturday night. Sorry honey, family comes first.

Of course, these kids are 154 times more likely to vote Democrat...
Or Judaism? Or Coptic Christianity? Or just about all our European ancestors prior to the Industrial Revolution?
And 300 times as likely to support Mike Huckabee.
Now ya tell me.
Bulllllllll-Sh****************...... History is clear enough on this one.
I didn't say it...you did...but...
-—hogwash—
Bittles reviewed 48 studies from 11 countries and found that the risks of birth defects rose from about 2% in the general population to 4% in consanguineous or same blood couples.
So the risk doubles, but it's a myth. Also it focuses on birth defects, but doesn't mention increased risk of recessive genetic diseases.
There is an elevated risk of various genetic defects for the offspring of first cousins, approximately equal to the increased risk of such defects for babies born to women above age 35.
“Bittles reviewed 48 studies from 11 countries and found that the risks of birth defects rose from about 2% in the general population to 4% in consanguineous or same blood couples.”
Of course, if the journalist was opposed to first cousins marrying, the sentence would have screamed, “100% rise in birth defects!”
1 out of 25 with birth defects?
Doesn’t sound so safe to me.
But I was breeding rabbits, and culling early for the frying pan. Probably not a good prescription for humans.
This genetics stuff is simple. Re-breed the line together, cull what doesn't work for your needs, and try again next generation.
It ain't rocket science. It's genetics.
/johnny
Safe enough for me. I wasn't the rabbit with buck teeth or a bad disposition, or weighed under the standard weight I had established for 6 wks.
Mighty pretty rabbits, with good teeth, excellent disposition, that were market weight by 6 weeks.
We ate the culls.
Good for rabbits and dogs. No so good for humans.
/johnny
There were defenders on the Sex And The City threads who supported such a choice (to wait until later in life to “settle down”).
1st cousins are not kissing cousins though. 3rd or 4th cousins are.
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