No, I’m not inquiring for my own sake. While discussing the frightening aspect of a “Ruling family” in small New England towns with a coworker, she told me that a FOAF is marrying his first cousin. After we all got done "Ewwwwww"ing, I said I thought that was illegal, and that you couldn’t marry anyone closer than a second cousin. “Apparently in Vermont, it’s OK,” says coworker.
Because I’m lazy, and because the Teeming Millions are so smart (not because I’d expect you guys to know about marrying cousins) I throw it to you. Is it, or is it not illegal to marry your first cousin?
Why the “ewww” factor? Seriously, I have never understood why this bothers people. It is not incest, nor is it particularly a bad idea genectically–certainly not on the 1st cousin/cousin pairing. Second and third pairings can be problematic, but only if there is a bad gene in the pool inthe first place.
First cousin marriges are legal in some eleven or thirteen states. Why do they bother people?
In North Carolina, you can marry your first cousin. But we do have some standards: you can’t marry your double first cousin - i.e., if your cousin is the child of your mother’s sister and your father’s brother, you can’t marry them.
Oh, and you can get married when you’re twelve, if you are already pregnant and your parent consents.
(1) A marriage entered into prior to the dissolution of an earlier marriage of one of the parties;
(2) A marriage between an ancestor and descendant, or between a brother and a sister, whether the relationship is by the half or the whole blood or by adoption;
(3) A marriage between an uncle and a niece or between an aunt and a nephew, whether the relationship is by the half or the whole blood.
But cousins are OK to marry. Break out the bangos! :D:D
w00h00! Welcome to the board, wanna join the Vermont/Quebec Alliance? So far the only members are matt_mcl and I. Now I’m not the only Vermonter! (and thanks for the info, after I delivered the news to my coworker, another round of ewwws was thrown around.)
It’s not against Biblical law - Leviticus doesn’t cover this on the “thou shalt not lay with” code. First cousins share only 12.5% of there genes, so while not completely un-iffy, it’s not a guarantee they’ll produce another Congressman, either.
Also, ick! Tengo nauseas. :eek:
(2) A marriage between an ancestor and descendant, or between a brother and a sister, whether the relationship is by the half or the whole blood or by adoption;
If one of the siblings is adopted, the two are not related at all. The ban against half-sibling marriage is telling, though. It shows that the lawmakers had no idea of genetics.
There is no genetic differnce between a half sibling and a first cousin. Both have two common grandparents, so by my figuring, they share 50% of their genes. That sounds to me like a risky proposition for having healthy babies, regardless of your state’s laws.
Not so. The coefficient of inbreeding for first cousins is only 1/16. For half-siblings it is 1/8. What you have forgotten is that in the case of half-siblings, half of the grandparents’ genes must be discounted (those that were not passed on to the common parent of the half-siblings).
Bibliophage is correct as long as the parental siblings are not identical twins. For example if your father and your uncle are identical twins then you share the same amount of genetic makeup with your 1st cousin as with a half sibling.
Marriage between first cousins, while considered icky and backwards in most of the US/Europe, is a common practice in some cultures.
I know it’s fairly regular with certain Pakistani and Indian families that one is expected to marry a cousin. First cousin marriages are thought to be for the more favored children; I know someone whose father considered her beautiful enough for first cousin marriage, while her sister was expected to marry a second or further out. Marriage between relatives apparently is designed to strengthen the family; I guess if your grandparents and great-uncles are the same, you won’t drift apart as much.
This is indeed a very traditional approach and attitudes vary a lot. From my experience it seems that some are completely strict about it, while for many families it’s more of a desire for their children to marry a relation, much like some parents want their children to marry someone of their race or religion, but will not always fight it if there’s a problem.
I don’t know the genetics involved, although one defender of the practice (who’d married a cousin) said, “They say it causes problems, but we’ve been doing it for centuries.” He indicated it might be due to the large size of families.
Legally it seems to be okay in some places. However, as is seen by many of the reactions, the cultural taboo on incest still makes this a repulsive thought to most people.
With me it’s not so much that as…I know my cousin. I grew up with him. Why on earth would I want to marry him? I know too much about him…If that makes sense to people.
