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Britain

Marrying cousins and paying the price

2005-11-18

British Pakistanis more likely to have children with genetic disorders

An estimated 55% of British Pakistanis are married to first cousins and, therefore, 13 times more at risk than other Britons of genetic disorders.

I knew it was common. I didn't know it was over half. That explains so much...

This has prompted a Labour Party member of parliament to call for a ban on British Pakistanis against marrying first cousins.

Why not just make it a ban on anybody marrying a first cousin?

âWe have to stop this tradition of first cousin marriages,â Keighley MP Ann Cryer told BBCâs Newsnight. Her basic argument is that marrying someone who is a close family member carries a risk for children - a risk that lies within the code of life; within our genes. Communities that practice cousin marriage experience higher levels of some very rare but very serious illnesses - illnesses known as recessive genetic disorders. Mrs Cryer believes an open debate on the subject is needed because - despite the risks - cousin marriage remains very popular.

That must be because marrying your sister or your Mom is outlawed even in Pakistan. First cousin is the next best thing.

Her constituency is in the Bradford area, where the rates of cousin marriage a well above the national average. It is estimated that three out of four marriages within Bradfordâs Pakistani community are between first cousins.

I guess they don't want to share those genes with anyone...

The practice remains so popular because the community believes there are real benefits to marrying in the family. Many British Pakistanis celebrate cousin marriage because it is thought to generate more stable relationships. Such unions are seen as strong, building as they do on already tight family networks. âYou have an understanding,â explained Neila Butt, who married her first cousin, Farooq, nine years ago. âFamily events are really nice because my in-laws and his are related,â she said. âYou have the same family history and when you talk about the old times either here or in Pakistan you know who you are talking about. It is just a nicer emotional feel.â

It's gotta be a cultural thing. I've never hard the urge to jump a close relative.

But the statistics for recessive genetic illness in cousin marriages make sobering reading. British Pakistanis are 13 times more likely to have children with genetic disorders than the general population - they account for just over 3% of all births but have just under a third of all British children with such illnesses. Indeed, Birmingham Primary Care Trust estimates that one in ten of all children born to first cousins in the city either dies in infancy or goes on to develop serious disability as a result of a recessive genetic disorder.

Posted by:Fred

#23 "If your family tree doesn't fork, you might be a ..." Pakistani???

Posted by: DMFD 2005-11-18 22:47

#22 LEGAL KISSIN' COUSINS - give the US Ninth, or at least Ted Kennedy, time to dev fer mer anti-Federaley SOCIALISM. Ditto for LEGAL MURDER, LEGAL POLYGAMY, LEGAL POLYAMORY, MERRY GIVING TREES and 9 year old, or younger, Single Welfare Mothers, etc.

Posted by: JosephMendiola 2005-11-18 22:22

#21 LOL Jan! ;)

Posted by: Red Dog 2005-11-18 21:26

#20 Just for fun

ELMA TURL
(Mike Cross)

Elma Turl is a beautiful girl, and I'd love to have her for my wife,
She's just the kind of woman who could make me happy for the rest of my life
My daddy said, "Son, there's something you don't know, and it's something I
think you oughter
Elma Turl is a beautiful girl; but son, she's my daughter."

Alice Green is a beautiful thing, and I'd love to have her for my wife,
She's just the kind of woman who could make me happy for the rest of my life
My daddy said, "Son, there's something you don't know, and it's something I
think you oughter
Alice Green is a beautiful thing; but son, she's my daughter."

Well, I've been all around the whole durn county, like a buck huntin' for a doe,
But it seems every girl I'd like to marry is a wild oat Daddy sowed
So I went to my mama with my head hung down, and she asked me what the matter
could be,
I told her my problem and she took my hand and said, "Son, now listen to me."

"You see, your daddy was such a good-lookin' young man, and like an eager young
stallion horse
His blood ran hot, so you can't blame him for lettin' Mother Nature take her
course
But you got no reason to be upset; don't you worry, don't fret, don't bother
You see, your daddy ain't your daddy, he only thinks he is; so you can marry
whomever you wanter.

Posted by: Jan 2005-11-18 18:03

#19 It's gotta be a cultural thing. I've never hard the urge to jump a close relative.

:-)

Posted by: Red Dog 2005-11-18 16:28

#18 Hey, I went to high school in a small town in Nebraska. I wasn't related or interested in anybody there but the folks all knew their relationship status. It was kind of funny watching folks try to figure out if they could date.

Of course I went far from my root stock so... close relations were extremely unlikely.
Sister-in-law did the same so at our family get togethers - all races and mixes are covered.

Posted by: 3dc 2005-11-18 14:33

#17 It's gotta be a cultural thing. I've never hard the urge to jump a close relative.

Fraudian slip?

Sorry.... I know I'm throwing stones from a glass house...)

Posted by: CrazyFool 2005-11-18 14:24

#16 why no ban on marrying cousins? Two words: "Royal Family"

Posted by: Frank G 2005-11-18 13:48

#15 Anytime you date in the South you have to interview your dates oldest living relative before getting too involved.

The old "who are your people" test, as it were.

Never caught me in that one, but I know a few people who found some common relatives.

But hell, if she ain't your first cousin you're golden. I'm sure this is easier to justify to yourself after finding a few common distant relatives, six months into dating.

I don't know many people outside of the South who know their cousins beyond first cousins anyway. So our definition of kin may be slightly different from the rest of the world's, and thus we're more likely not to date our cousins, even distant cousins than all ya'll citified people who wouldn't know a second cousin if you ran into them on the street nowadays.

That being said, there is a well known saying in North Mississippi "the closer the kin, the deeper in."

Chew on that for a while.

EP

Posted by: ElvisHasLeftTheBuilding 2005-11-18 12:47

#14 Doubling and quadrupling up on the 'seethe' gene is the danger here...

Posted by: Seafarious 2005-11-18 12:40

#13 lol! While I'm enjoying the jokes, this sounds a bit over the top to me. They say they are 13% more likely to have genetic disorders but they didn't give us any actual numbers. For centuries, first cousins married. (And no, I'm not married too, nor hav I ever even been sexually attracted to a first cousin)

I think the problem in Apalachia had more to do with incest than first cousins. This here's Bob. He's my daddy, my husband, my cousin and my brother.

Posted by: 2b 2005-11-18 12:34

#12 "Why not just make it a ban on anybody marrying a first cousin?"

Excellent question Fred. Why hasn't the UK banned all consanguous marriges. I suspect that historically it was more to preserve bloodlines and less as a matter of convienience. Bottom line is most related parents will have healthy children. However,A child of unrelated parents has a risk of around two to three per cent of being born with a birth defect or genetic disorder. This risk is approximately doubled (4-6 per cent) for children of first cousins without a family history of genetic disorders. If the Birmingham Primary Care Trust "one in ten" estimates are correct, it is a goood indication that thier indeed is a family history of genetic disorders in that community.

Posted by: DepotGuy 2005-11-18 11:08

#11 Kind of like European royalty intermarrying for centuries and giving you princes with big ears and small brains.

Posted by: DoDo 2005-11-18 11:06

#10 âYou have the same family history and when you talk about the old times either here or in Pakistan you know who you are talking about. It is just a nicer emotional feel.â

Sounds like a self-esteem problem.

Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-11-18 10:53

#9 "Squeeeeeeeell like a piggy boy, Squeeeeeeeel like a piggy"

/Creepy Banjo music.

Posted by: Thaique Ulith6641 2005-11-18 08:49

#8 Hey, watch it, Armyguy! I resemble that remark. Funny, but true, story. My wife's parents get heckled all the time because her mom was a Phillips before marrying Bob Phillips. Thus, her name is now....Gloria Phillips Phillips, but they were not related (just Phillips is a very popular name). And, yes, they are from Alabama. We always have Mississippi to fall back on!

Posted by: BA 2005-11-18 07:54

#7 And people say it's bad in Alabama ????

Posted by: ARMYGUY 2005-11-18 07:44

#6 Two friends, Jim and Barbara, met here at work and after a year's courtship decided to get married. They had a beautiful little girl a year later and were going thru some old pictures. Jum brought out his pictures and Barbara asked "What are you doing with pictures of my Great Grandparants?" Jim said, "These are my great grandparants!" Turns out jims parents had left the area before he was born and he came back as an adult. They had no idea they were related. They now have three perfectly healthy children.

Posted by: Deacon Blues 2005-11-18 07:43

#5 âYou have an understanding,â explained Neila Butt, who married her first cousin, Farooq, nine years ago.

Well, with a name like that, I guess she was just destined to marry her first cousin, Allan be praised!

Posted by: BA 2005-11-18 07:36

#4 "That explains a lot":

*State-sanctioned gang rape.
*Perverse Mush Sherrif claming that women report rape in order to make money and get out of the country.
*The Pakistani Kashmiri terrorists that Perverse benevolently tolerates, if not actively supports as they sow murder and mayhem in Kashmir.
*The terror attack on the Indian parliament that brought the two countries to the verge of war.
*That Khan guy supplying Iran with nuclear know-how and materials.
*Three out of Four 7/7 London bombers originating from Pakistan.
*The butchers of Daniel Pearl.

Posted by: Bryan 2005-11-18 07:31

#3 sister

Posted by: Mahmood 2005-11-18 02:48

#2 Paki-Waki supergenes. LOL

It's gotta be a cultural thing. I've never hard the urge to jump a close relative.

you haven't seen my sister

Posted by: Mahmood 2005-11-18 02:46

#1 Wouldn't want to dilute those Paki-Waki supergenes. Marry cousins, sisters, fathers, themselves. Just do in Pakistan and stay there.

Posted by: ed 2005-11-18 01:35

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