The mathematics of your next family reunion

In modern western society, marrying your cousin is not well accepted, particularly in the United States. Through a combination of old prejudices and present-day conventional wisdom about inherited birth defects, first cousin marriage is seen by many as a little too close for comfort, as well as a bad idea if you want children. Further, if you include second cousins in the mix, according to the Clinical Genetics Handbook , the increased risks with regards to having children are nearly non-existent in this case compared with non-cousin marriage.

While there have been instances of the banning of marriage between cousins at various points through history, such as the Roman Catholics banning the practice for a time starting with the Council of Agde in AD, for the most part marriage among cousins has been popular as long as people have been getting married. Specifically, until the s or so, first cousins commonly married in Europe and the U. In fact, Charles Darwin, Mr.

You can marry your deceased spouse’s sister or brother. This also applies if your There is no legal restriction on the marriage of first cousins.

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