Skoul d Cousins Marry?

    for the salce oi this note0 we are not gofng fnto questfans
lfka IShOuld anyone marrvr and wor8en the Population probleml, or `Is
ft better to marry than to burn? ) Any eou~le that fs contcmPlatfng
merrfage needs to confront a whole range of pressing questions, and we
hope that whether cousin8 or not, a couple will be askinq them with
great eerlousness, dalibcratlon and hope,

    In addftfon to sll,oi those, cousins Inherently do face rdditfonal
challenges that come out of thefr briar family relatfonshfps, and these
specfal ones are the only ones that ~111 be iaced here,

    Two thfngs come to mind: the issues that arfse from iamtlv
tPad4tionr and those from genetic or biological ralatednes8, I do not
know of any iactual data on the succes8 or failure of marriages as a
functfon Of the common tradftfons bf the mates, Commonsense would say
that large djfierences f~ economic, socfal,  relfgfaue outlook may be
SOUPce8 Of mfeunderetandfngs in the latep married ljfe of a couplep
and a8 cousin8 are more lfkelv than the average to share three things
thev mav be relotfvelv free of those burdens*  Commonsense also suggests
that mates may becoma bored If there, are no dlfferencasj but aven eouefns
ara likelv to have dif;ierent lffe expatr(ences and perspecffves, There 1s
some danger that tousfn-marrlages have been arranged to suft the eonvenfence
Of others1 but even hare there fs lfttls fectual @tvfdencg on how thfe
afibCf8 the outcome, Obviously such matters wfll vary enormously wfth the
(mmed4ate eU!tural background that the coUplc brings fnto the marrfrge,
and the eettfnq of thefr future lfie,

    The more obvfous questfons are "What about the chfldrenPnr and "1s
there a Social Interest in dfecouragfng such marrlages on account of the
Poerfble hazards to the genetfc quplftv of the Population?" There are so
manv taboos about close marr4agre fn many cultures and relfgious faiths,
and in some state laws? that Is is obvfous many people harbor these
sueetlans,

    Ffretp ft should be rtreeeed that fnbreedjng does not fn any way
generate "bed geneskr that la genetlc fectors that may cause dieeabe o,r
impafr the functfonfng oi the chfld,  Thfs fs a suoeretitfon that has
grown ovac the centurfsec irom ths observstlon that fnbreedfng tends
to axPose the genetfc defect8 already carrfcd by almost every fndfvfdusl
of the epeefesi These defects arc the legacy of evolutfonr the mutations
wfthout whfch hfghcr organlsme and human befngr could never have emerged
Out of the Prfmeval oo~er mfjllone andibfllions of years ago,

    The exPoeure of previous mutatfone Is not to be taken liqhtlvt
evervone of us is carryfng 2 or 3 "bad genes" In a ma8ksd condftlonr 4n
a way that Onlv only be revealed bv the bad luck oi meetjng a eartner with
a rimilar defect', In Practical terms@ flret eouefns who marry have to face
the fact that they will have about twice the rfeke oi bad luck wfth the
genetic dfes as do unrelated partners when they have chfldren, It has to
be,eafd that women who have children after age 35! or couples who have
chfldren knowfng that there are deifnite heredftarv problem8 In thefr
anceetrv are taking rrimflarlv Increased rfsks, Whether cousfne should
marry (and have child~enl) fn the iace of there concerns fs an ethical
Problem thev a?one.must answer,  HoweverI the risks of dfeaetar are greatly
fncreeeed for couafnr who are aleo carrjere of known genetic dfseare8#
thrv mav be jncreasfng the odds of a bad result from less than ltlO0
(the general average) to over 114,  For that reason, the least advice
that should be Pressed on cousfn-mates, beiorr thev have chfldren, is to
Vle(t a genetfc counselor and get informed o dvfce about thefr own spec4flc


eftuatlonr rather than tpy to play the odds that aaply to the whole average
cfopulatfon,

Joshua l.ederbcrg