A Labour MP has called for an end to the practice of cousin marriage after a Newsnight investigation reports that British Pakistanis are 13 times more likely to have children with recessive disorders than the general population. The same research shows that British Pakistanis account for 3.4% of all births but have 30% of all British children with recessive disorders.| It's not like this is something new. Starting from the late Middle Ages, the royal famblies of Europe had to petition the Pope for exemptions to poke their close relatives. The fact that they did so petition accounts for the number of bleeders who regularly attended coronation balls, as well as for some of the more interesting mental aberrations among the aristocracy. |
| Infidel. |
| They don't let their sheep breed like that, so why would they think it's okay to do it themselves? |
Mrs Cryer's constituency is the Bradford area, where local doctors estimate that three quarters of marriages in Bradford's Pakistani community are between first cousins. Dr Peter Corry, Consultant Paediatrician at Bradford Royal Infirmary, says his hospital sees so many recessive genetic illnesses that it has become a centre of excellence for the treatment of some of them.
| See, it's good for medical education! |
Birmingham Primary Care Trust estimates that one in ten of all children born to first cousin marriages in Birmingham's large Pakistani community either dies in infancy or goes on to suffer serious disability as a result of recessive genetic disorders.
Recessive genetic illness is one of the main reasons for admission to the city's children's hospital. But, because cousin marriage has such a long history, raising these risks is sometimes interpreted as a challenge to the community's culture.
The variant genes that cause recessive genetic illnesses tend to be very rare. In the general population the likelihood of a couple having the same variant gene is a hundred to one. In cousin marriages, if one partner has a variant gene the risk that the other has it too is far higher – more like one in eight.
But, as Newsnight discovers, some within the Pakistani community reject the evidence of a link between cousin marriage and genetic illness. The programme reports on a campaign on the issue by Birmingham Primary Care Trust which raised awareness but was criticised by some sections of the city's Pakistani community.
The report also shows that cousin marriages can be strong and enduring. Neila Butt is married to her first cousin Farooq and lives with him and their two children – Daneesh and Hikmar. Neila says she is glad she has married her cousin. She says: "You have an understanding, you have the same family history. When you talk about old times, either here or in Pakistan, you know who you're talking about. It's just a nicer emotional feel. Family events are really nice because my in-laws and Farooq's in-laws are together and related."