What are the Disadvantages of Cousin Marriage?

We are seeing lots of cousin marriages or family marriages around us. When we go to attend family marriages or cousin marriages, we find lots of people who say that cousin marriages or family marriages are increasing the risks of birth defects in the children.  That’s why most people try to know the answer to the question ‘Are cousin marriages increasing the risks of birth defects in children?’. If we want to get the answer to this question, we will have to know the basic genetic principles. The concept of family marriages or cousin marriages is very common in the sub-continent region. That’s why most of the people belong to the same ancestry in this region. Here, we will discuss the disadvantages of cousin marriage.

Now, we will try to clear this concept from the genetic point of view. The ancestors share 0.20% of your DNA. The sharing rate of the DNA from the third cousins is 0.78%. On the other hand, the sharing rate of the DNA from the second cousin is 3.12%. The sharing rate of the DNA from the first cousin is 12.5%. If you are sharing more DNA, it will increase the percentage of genetic diseases. The most common genetic disease is thalassemia. Now, you should also understand another fact about it. The main reason behind the transmission of these diseases to offspring is the problem in the genes.  You may also like to read the facts about gaining weight after marriage.

Here, we will try to discuss the most important disease of the genes. Cystic Fibrosis is a disease that is created due to defects in the CFTR gene. To get this disease, you should have two copies of the defective genes. If there is a problem in one gene, this disease will appear in you. If you have this disease, you can transfer this disease to your offspring. This disease will be transferred to the offspring only if there are defects in your genes and your spouse’s genes. If both of you are correct, there will not be any chance of getting this disease. If both parents have defects in their genes, the chances of transferring the defects to their offspring will be increased by up to 25%.

Now, we talk about the disadvantages of cousin marriage. These dangers are more in the first cousins. Before estimating these dangers, we have to estimate the probability of copying genetic diseases in both cousins. Its calculation is quite complex for us. Anyhow, scientists have given us some calculations about cousin marriages. According to scientists, the risks of inherited diseases in cousin marriages are 4 to 7%. On the other hand, the risks of inherited diseases in the general population are only 3 to 4%. Here, we are discussing only one genetic disease. If we study it effectively, we will know that there may be thousands of diseases in the genealogy.

After the cousin marriages, if their children will also follow the same tradition, this thing can create disasters for the generations in the future. Its reason is that they will recycle the old genes and these genes will be potentially harmful to them. It is one of the major disadvantages of cousin marriage. Therefore, if two people who are suffering from Thalassemia disease will marry, their offspring will have to face major problems of Thalassemia. Recently, researchers at Queens University, Ireland have researched the impacts of cousin marriages. According to them, cousin marriages are doubling the risks of schizophrenia disease in their offspring. They have also revealed that these kinds of diseases are inherited from the parents to the children due to specific kinds of DNA. As a result, their children may have to face some learning difficulties and mental disabilities.

In the world, the parents of 10% of children are relatives of each other. The researchers have also revealed that the risk of schizophrenia in each child is almost 0.3 to 0.66%. Anyhow, in the case of cousin marriages, this risk will increase from 0.66% to 1.32%. Cousin marriages are also lasting some impacts on the depression chances of people. The chances of depression among the common people are 10% in their lives. On the other hand, the chances of depression among the children of cousins are 30% in their lives. If you want to marry your cousin, you should check the risks of genetic diseases from the medical examiners. Anyhow, if you are adopting it as a tradition, you should avoid it.