Scientists see nothing wrong in cousins getting married

London, United Kingdom, December 24: Even in the age of sexual liberation, both from a social and scientific perspective, marriage between cousins has been frowned upon.

An International team of scientists discovered that giving birth to children with genetic defects as a result of wed lock between cousins was no greater risk than in case of women becoming pregnant after 40 years.

Professor Diane Paul of Massachusetts University and Hamish Spencer of the University of Otago in New Zealand, leaders of the study, said "Women in their forties are not made to feel guilty about having babies and the same should apply to cousins who want to marry."

The scientists believe that the laws against cousin marriage are based on false fears. An over all review of the studies show that birth defects in children of cousins is significantly smaller than the general assumption.

Spencer clarified that, “Neither the scientific nor social assumptions behind such legislation stand up to close scrutiny. Such legislation reflects outmoded prejudices about immigrants and the rural poor and relies on over-simplified views of heredity. There is no scientific grounding for it."

Both the scientists reported that birth defects are 1.7 percent to 2 percent higher in children born to first cousins than the risk of congenital defects in the general population. Though, there is a 4.4 percent higher risk than the usual of dying in childhood, it still does not justify the ban. This was approximately, the same risk women take to bear children when in their forties and no one ever “suggests they should be prevented from reproducing.”

Besides China, Taiwan, North and South Korea, U.S. is the only developed country where the practice of marriage in first cousins is banned in 31 states. The only exception is in special cases where permission is granted through genetic counseling or where either one of the partners is sterile or beyond reproductive age.

Robin Bennett, a genetic counselor of the University of Washington, said, "I'm aware of people who have been afraid to tell people that they're in love with their cousins, who've become pregnant and potentially terminated a pregnancy based on false information. Or they didn't marry the person they loved because of their concerns."

In UK, the issue came to the fore front when the immigration officer Phil Woolas focused on marriages in first cousins in the Asian communities. He stated that this resulted in a large number of children with health problems. "A lot of arranged marriages are with first cousins, and that produces lots of genetic problems in terms of disability [in children]."

Early studies in human genetics had suggested that children of genetically related parents showed a higher than average incidence of birth defects.

The study was published in the Journal Public Library of Science.