Cousin marriage
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A cousin marriage is a marriage where the spouses are cousins (i.e. people with common grandparents or people who share other fairly recent ancestors). The practice was common in earlier times and continues to be common in some societies today, though in some jurisdictions such marriages are prohibited.[1] Worldwide, more than 10% of marriages are between first or second cousins.[2] Cousin marriage is an important topic in anthropology and alliance theory.[3]
In some cultures and communities, cousin marriages are considered ideal and are actively encouraged and expected; in others, they are seen as
In some jurisdictions, cousin marriage is
Opinions vary widely as to the merits of the practice. Children of
History
The prevalence of first-cousin marriage in Western countries has declined since the late 19th century and early 20th century.[14][15] In the Middle East and South Asia, cousin marriage is still strongly favored.[16][17][18]
Cousin marriage has often been practiced to keep cultural values intact, preserve family wealth, maintain geographic proximity, keep tradition, strengthen family ties, and maintain family structure or a closer relationship between the wife and her in-laws. Many such marriages are
China
Confucius described marriage as "the union of two surnames".[25][26] In ancient China some evidence indicates that in some cases two clans had a longstanding arrangement whereby they would marry only members of the other clan. Some men also practiced sororate marriage, that is a marriage to a former wife's sister or a polygynous marriage to both sisters. This would have the effect of eliminating parallel-cousin marriage as an option because they would have the same surname but would leave cross-cousin marriage acceptable.[27] In the ancient system of the Erya dating from around the third century BC, the words for the two types of cross cousins were identical (甥 shēng), with father's brother's children (甥 shēng) and mother's sister's children (從母晜弟 cóngmǔ kūndì for boys and 從母姊妹 cóngmǔ zǐmèi for girls) both being distinct.[28] However, whereas it may not have been permissible at that time, marriage with the mother's sister's children also became possible by the third century AD.[29] Eventually, the mother's sister's children and cross cousins shared one set of terms, with only the father's brother's children retaining a separate set.[30] This usage remains today, with biǎo (表) cousins considered "outside" and paternal táng (堂) cousins being of the same house.[31]
Anthropologist
The following is a Chinese poem by Bai Juyi (A.D. 772–846), in which he described an inbreeding village.[36][37]
In Ku-feng hsien, in the district of Ch'u chou [Kiangsu]
Is a village called Chu Ch'en [the names of the two clans].
...
There are only two clans there
Which have intermarried for many generations.
...
In some periods in Chinese history, all cousin marriage was legally prohibited, as law codes dating from the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) attest. However, enforcement proved difficult and by the subsequent Qing dynasty, the former laws had been restored.[38] During the Qing dynasty era (1644–1912), first cousin marriage was common and prevailed after the era particularly in rural regions. By the early to mid-20th century, anthropologists described cross-cousin marriage in China as "still permissible ... but ... generally obsolete" or as "permitted but not encouraged".[38][37] Eventually, in 1981, a legal ban on first-cousin marriage was enacted by the government of the People's Republic of China due to potential health concerns.[39]
Middle East
Cousin marriage has been allowed throughout the Middle East for all recorded history.[40] Anthropologists have debated the significance of the practice; some view it as the defining feature of the Middle Eastern kinship system[41] while others note that overall rates of cousin marriage have varied sharply between different Middle Eastern communities.[42] Very little numerical evidence exists of rates of cousin marriage in the past.[43]
Raphael Patai reports that in central Arabia, no relaxation of a man's right to the father's brother's daughter seems to have taken place in the past hundred years before his 1962 work. Here the girl is not forced to marry her male cousin, but she cannot marry another unless he gives consent.[44] The force of the custom is seen in one case from Jordan when the father arranged for the marriage of his daughter to an outsider without obtaining the consent of her male cousin. When the marriage procession progressed with the bride toward the house of the bridegroom, the male cousin rushed forward, snatched away the girl, and forced her into his own house. This was regarded by all as a lawful marriage.[45] In Iraq, the right of the cousin also traditionally was followed [46] The Syrian city of Aleppo during the 19th century featured a rate of cousin marriage among the elite of 24% according to one estimate, a figure that masked widespread variation: some leading families had none or only one cousin marriage, while others had rates approaching 70%. Cousin marriage rates were highest among women,[clarification needed] merchant families, and older well-established families.[47]
In-marriage was more frequent in the late pre-Islamic
According to anthropologist
A 2009 study found that many Arab countries display some of the highest rates of consanguineous marriages in the world, and that first cousin marriages which may reach 25–30% of all marriages.[58] In Qatar, Yemen, and UAE, consanguinity rates are increasing in the current generation. Research among Arabs and worldwide has indicated that consanguinity could have an effect on some reproductive health parameters such as postnatal mortality and rates of congenital malformations.[59]
Middle Eastern parallel-cousin marriage
Africa
Cousin marriage rates from most African nations outside the Middle East are unknown. An estimated 35–50% of all sub-Saharan African populations either prefer or accept cousin marriages.[61] In Nigeria, the most populous country of Africa, the three largest ethnic groups in order of size are the Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo.[62] The Hausa are overwhelmingly Muslim, though followers of traditional religions do exist. Muslim Hausas practice cousin marriage preferentially, and polygyny is allowed if the husband can support multiple wives.[63] The book Baba of Karo presents one prominent portrayal of Hausa life: according to its English coauthor, it is unknown for Hausa women to be unmarried for any great length of time after around the age of 14.[64] Divorce can be accomplished easily by either the male or the female, but females must then remarry.[65] Even for a man, lacking a spouse is looked down upon.[66] Baba of Karo's first of four marriages was to her second cousin. She recounts in the book that her good friend married the friend's first cross cousin.[67]
50% of the Yoruba people are Muslim, 40% Christian and 10% adherent of their own indigenous religious traditions.
The Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria, who are predominantly Christian, strictly practice non-consanguineal marriages, where kinfolks and cousins are not allowed to marry or have intimacy. Consequently men and women are forbidden to marry within their recent patrilineage and matrilineage. Before the advent of Christianity through colonization, the Igbos had always frowned upon and specifically prohibited consanguineal marriages, both the parallel and cross-cousin types, which are considered incestuous and cursed. Arranged marriages, albeit in great decline, were also to consciously prevent accidental consanguineal and bad marriages, such that the impending in-laws were aware of each other's family histories. Currently, as in the old days, before courtship commences thorough enquiries are made by both families not only to ascertain character traits but to also ensure their children are not related by blood. Traditionally parents closely monitor those with whom their children are intimate to avoid them committing incest. It is customary for parents to bring their children up to know their immediate cousins and, when opportune, their distant cousins. They encourage their adult children to disclose their love interests for consanguineal screening.[70]
In Ethiopia most of the population was historically rigidly opposed to cousin marriage and could consider up to third cousins the equivalent of brother and sister, with marriage at least ostensibly prohibited out to sixth cousins.[71] They also took affinal prohibitions very seriously. The prospect of a man marrying a former wife's ‘sister’ was seen as incest, and conversely for a woman and her former husband's ‘brother’.[72] Though Muslims make up more than a third of the Ethiopian population and Islam has been present in the country since the time of Muhammad, cross-cousin marriage is very rare among most Ethiopian Muslims.[73] In contrast to the Nigerian situation, in Ethiopia Islam cannot be identified with a particular ethnicity and is found across most of them, and conversions between religions are comparatively common.[74] The Afar practice a form of cousin marriage called absuma, which is arranged at birth and can be forced.[75]
Catholic Church and Europe
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0d/Table_of_Consanguinity_showing_degrees_of_relationship.svg/290px-Table_of_Consanguinity_showing_degrees_of_relationship.svg.png)
In the 9th century, however, the church raised the number of prohibited degrees to seven and changed the method by which they were calculated. Instead of the former practice of counting up to the common ancestor and then down to the proposed spouse, the new law computed consanguinity by counting only back to the common ancestor.
In 1215, the Fourth Lateran Council reduced the number of prohibited degrees of consanguinity from seven back to four.[83][84] After 1215, the general rule was that while fourth cousins could marry without dispensation, the need for dispensations was reduced.[81]
For example, the marriage of
The 19th-century academic debate on cousin marriage developed differently in Europe and America. The writings of Scottish deputy commissioner for lunacy Arthur Mitchell claiming that cousin marriage had injurious effects on offspring were largely contradicted by researchers such as Alan Huth and George Darwin.[90][91] In fact, Mitchell's own data did not support his hypotheses and he later speculated that the dangers of consanguinity might be partly overcome by proper living. Later studies by George Darwin found results that resemble those estimated today. His father, Charles Darwin – who married his first cousin – had initially speculated that cousin marriage might pose serious risks, but perhaps in response to his son's work, these thoughts were omitted from a later version of the book they published. When a question about cousin marriage was eventually considered in 1871 for the census, according to George Darwin, it was rejected on the grounds that the idle curiosity of philosophers was not to be satisfied.[92] In Southern Italy, cousin marriage was a usual tradition in regions such as Calabria and Sicily, where first-cousin marriage in the 1900s was near to 50 percent of all marriages.[93] Cousin marriage to third cousins is allowed and considered favorably in Greece.[94]
Ancient Europe
Cousin marriage was legal in ancient Rome from the
Shaw and Saller propose in their thesis of low cousin marriage rates that as families from different regions were incorporated into the imperial Roman nobility, exogamy was necessary to accommodate them and to avoid destabilizing the Roman social structure. Their data from tombstones further indicate that in most of the western empire, parallel-cousin marriages were not widely practiced among commoners, either. Spain and Noricum were exceptions to this rule, but even there, the rates did not rise above 10%.[98] They further point out that since property belonging to the nobility was typically fragmented,[clarification needed] keeping current assets in the family offered no advantage, compared with acquiring it by intermarriage. Jack Goody claimed that early Christian marriage rules forced a marked change from earlier norms to deny heirs to the wealthy and thus to increase the chance that those with wealth would will their property to the Church. Shaw and Saller, however, believe that the estates of aristocrats without heirs had previously been claimed by the emperor, and that the Church merely replaced the emperor. Their view is that the Christian injunctions against cousin marriage were due more to ideology than to any conscious desire to acquire wealth.[98]
For some prominent examples of cousin marriages in ancient Rome, such as the marriage of Augustus' daughter to his sister's son, see the Julio-Claudian family tree. Marcus Aurelius also married his maternal first cousin Faustina the Younger, and they had 13 children. Cousin marriage was more frequent in ancient Greece, and marriages between uncle and niece were also permitted there.[3] One example is King Leonidas I of Sparta, who married his half-niece Gorgo. A Greek woman who became epikleros, or heiress with no brothers, was obliged to marry her father's nearest male kin if she had not yet married and given birth to a male heir. First in line would be either her father's brothers or their sons, followed by her father's sisters' sons.[99]
Early medieval
According to Goody, cousin marriage was allowed in the newly Christian and presumably also pre-Christian Ireland, where an heiress was also obligated to marry a paternal cousin. From the seventh century, the Irish Church only recognized four
United States
Anthropologist Martin Ottenheimer argues that marriage prohibitions were introduced to maintain the social order, uphold religious morality, and safeguard the creation of fit offspring.[104] Writers such as Noah Webster (1758–1843) and ministers such as Philip Milledoler (1775–1852) and Joshua McIlvaine helped lay the groundwork for such viewpoints well before 1860. This led to a gradual shift in concern from affinal unions, such as those between a man and his deceased wife's sister, to consanguineous unions. By the 1870s Lewis Henry Morgan (1818–1881) was writing about "the advantages of marriages between unrelated persons" and the necessity of avoiding "the evils of consanguine marriage", avoidance of which would "increase the vigor of the stock". To many (Morgan included), cousin marriage, and more specifically parallel-cousin marriage, was a remnant of a more primitive stage of human social organization.[105] Morgan himself had married his cousin in 1853.[106]
In 1846
These developments led to 13 states and territories passing cousin marriage prohibitions by the 1880s. Though contemporaneous, the
Legal status
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/02/CousinMarriageWorld.svg/440px-CousinMarriageWorld.svg.png)
2See sections on India and Hinduism.
East Asia
In the Far East, South Korea is especially restrictive with bans on marriage out to third cousins, with all couples having the same surname and region of origin having been prohibited from marrying until 1997.[109]
Taiwan and North Korea also prohibit first-cousin marriage.[8][110]
China has prohibited first-cousin marriage since 1981.
Unlike China mainland, the two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong[113] and Macau,[114] place no restrictions on marriage between cousins.
Southeast Asia
In Vietnam, Clause 3, Article 10 of the 2000 Vietnamese Law on Marriage and Family forbids marriages of people related by blood up to the third degree of kinship.[115][116] Cousin marriage is also prohibited in the Philippines.
United States
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Cousin_marriage_map1.svg/220px-Cousin_marriage_map1.svg.png)
1Some US states recognize marriages performed elsewhere, especially when the spouses were not residents of the state when married.clarification needed
Several
Prevalence
World map showing
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7b/Global_prevalence_of_consanguinity.svg/440px-Global_prevalence_of_consanguinity.svg.png)
Brazil
Recent 2001 data for Brazil indicate a rate of cousin marriage of 1.1%, down from 4.8% in 1957.[123] The geographic distribution is heterogeneous: in certain regions, the rate is at typical European levels, but in other areas is much higher. Newton Freire-Maia found paternal parallel cousin marriage to be the most common type.[124] In his 1957 study, the rate varied from 1.8% in the south to 8.4% in the northeast, where it increased moving inward from the coast,[125] and was higher in rural regions than in urban. Consanguinity has decreased over time and particularly since the 19th century. For example, in São Paulo in the mid-19th century, the rate of cousin marriage apparently was 16%,[126] but a century later, it was merely 1.9%.[123]
East Asia
First-cousin marriage is allowed in Japan, though the incidence has declined in recent years.[20]
China has prohibited first-cousin marriage since 1981,[111] although cross-cousin marriage was commonly practiced in China in the past in rural areas.[20][127] An article in China Daily from the 1990s reported on the ban's implementation in the northeastern province of Liaoning, along with a ban on marriage of people who were physically and mentally disabled, all justified on "eugenic" grounds.[127] Limited existing data indicate some remaining cousin marriage of types besides father's brother's daughter in many villages, with percentages usually in the lower single digits.[123] A 2002 Time article claims that an increasing imbalance in the number of males and females is causing more cousin marriages, as "desperate" males struggle to find brides.[128]
Europe
Germany
Cousin marriages remain legal in Germany. In 2007, between a fifth and a quarter of marriages among Turks in Germany were between relatives.[129] There has been discussion of whether laws prohibiting cousin marriage should be enacted.[130] Families may encourage cousin marriage as way of assisting relatives wishing to immigrate to Germany.[131]
The Netherlands
The
Sweden
Marriage between first cousins has been legal in Sweden since at least 1686 though first cousins needed a Royal consent in order to marry until 1844, when this consent was removed and marriage between first cousins was fully legal without Royal consent. In September 2023 the Government of Sweden initiated a government inquiry into banning marriage between first cousins. The inquiry is to propose a law prohibiting this kind of marriages by 1 October 2024.[133]
United Kingdom
In the English upper and upper-middle classes, the prevalence of first-cousin marriage remained steady at between 4% and 5% for much of the 19th century.
There has been a great deal of debate in the United Kingdom about whether to discourage cousin marriages through government public relations campaigns or ban them entirely.[
A 2008 analysis of infant mortality in Birmingham showed that South Asian infants had twice the normal infant mortality rate and three times the usual rate of infant mortality due to congenital anomalies.[136][18]
Middle East
The Middle East has uniquely high rates of cousin marriage among the world's regions. Iraq was estimated in one study to have a rate of 33% for cousins marrying.
All Arab countries in the Persian Gulf currently require advance genetic screening for prospective married couples. Qatar was the last Persian Gulf nation to institute mandatory screening in 2009, mainly to warn related couples who are planning marriage about any genetic risks they may face. The current rate of cousin marriage there is 54%, an increase of 12–18% over the previous generation.[141] A report by the Dubai-based Centre for Arab Genomic Studies (CAGS) in September 2009 found that Arabs have one of the world's highest rates of genetic disorders, nearly two-thirds of which are linked to consanguinity. Research from Ahmad Teebi suggests consanguinity is declining in Lebanon, Jordan, Morocco, and among Palestinians, but is increasing in the United Arab Emirates.[142]
Ahmad Teebi links the increase in cousin marriage in Qatar and other Arab states of the Persian Gulf to tribal tradition and the region's expanding economies. "Rich families tend to marry rich families, and from their own – and the rich like to protect their wealth," he said. "So it's partly economic, and it's also partly cultural." In regard to the higher rates of genetic disease in these societies, he says: "It's certainly a problem," but also that "The issue here is not the cousin marriage, the issue here is to avoid the disease."[17]
In many Middle Eastern nations, a marriage to the father's brother's daughter (FBD) is considered ideal, though this type may not always actually outnumber other types.
South Asia
Afghanistan
Consanguineous marriages are legal and relatively common in Afghanistan. The proportion of consanguineous marriages in the country stands at 46.2%, with significant regional variations ranging from 38.2% in Kabul province to 51.2% in Bamyan province.[146]
India
State | |
---|---|
Northern India | |
Jammu and Kashmir (incl. Ladakh) | 16.0 |
Uttar Pradesh | 7.7 |
Delhi | 5.1 |
Uttarakhand | 4.3 |
Haryana | 3.6 |
Rajasthan | 2.8 |
Punjab | 1.7 |
Himachal Pradesh | 0.5 |
Western India | |
Maharashtra | 12.1 |
Goa | 6.9 |
Gujarat | 6.2 |
Central India | |
Madhya Pradesh | 6.2 |
Chhattisgarh | 0.2 |
Eastern India | |
Odisha | 4.8 |
Bihar | 3.6 |
West Bengal | 3.1 |
Jharkhand | 2.3 |
Northeast India | |
Arunachal Pradesh | 2.1 |
Mizoram | 2.1 |
Nagaland | 2.0 |
Meghalaya | 1.6 |
Manipur | 1.5 |
Assam | 0.9 |
Sikkim | 0.6 |
Tripura | 0.2 |
South India | |
Tamil Nadu | 29.5 |
Andhra Pradesh | 25.9 |
Karnataka | 23.8 |
Telangana | 22.0 |
Kerala | 3.6 |
Religion | |
Hindu | 7.07 |
Muslim | 15.72 |
Other | 8.47 |
Caste | |
Scheduled Caste (SC) | 10.0 |
Scheduled Tribe (ST) | 8.4 |
Other Backward Class (OBC) | 11.1 |
Other | 8.0 |
Educational attainment | |
No education | 9.2 |
Primary | 10.1 |
Secondary | 10.7 |
Higher | 8.0 |
All-India | 9.9 |
In India, cousin marriage prevalence is 9.87%.
Cousin marriage is proscribed and seen as incest for Hindus in North India. In fact, it may even be unacceptable to marry within one's village or for two siblings to marry partners from the same village.[151] The northern kinship model prevails in the states of Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal.[152]
Cross-cousin and uncle-niece unions are preferential in South India, jointly accounting for some 30% of marriages in Andhra Pradesh in 1967, declining to 26% by 2015–16.[147] These practices are particularly followed in landed communities such as the Reddys or Vellalars, who wish to keep wealth within the family. This practice is also common among Brahmins in the region.[153] According to the National Family Health Survey of 2019–2021, the highest rates of consanguineous marriages in India are found in the southern states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, at 28% and 27% respectively.[154]
Practices in
India's Muslim minority represents about 14% of India population and has an overall cousin marriage rate of 22% according to a 2000 report. This may be a legacy of the partition of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan, when substantial Muslim migration to
Pakistan
In Pakistan, cousin marriage is legal and common. Reasons for consanguinity are economic, religious and cultural.[157] Data collected in 2014 from the Malakand District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province (KPK), Pakistan showed that around 66.4% of marriages among rural couples were to a first or second cousin.[158][159][160] In some areas, higher proportion of first-cousin marriages in Pakistan has been noted to be the cause of an increased rate of blood disorders in the population.[160]
United States
Data on cousin marriage in the United States is sparse. It was estimated in 1960 that 0.2% of all marriages between
A bill to repeal the ban on first-cousin marriage in Minnesota was introduced by Phyllis Kahn in 2003, but it died in committee. Republican Minority Leader Marty Seifert criticized the bill in response, saying it would "turn us into a cold Arkansas".[163] According to the University of Minnesota's The Wake, Kahn was aware the bill had little chance of passing, but introduced it anyway to draw attention to the issue. She reportedly got the idea after learning that cousin marriage is an acceptable form of marriage among some cultural groups that have a strong presence in Minnesota, namely the Hmong and Somali.[164]
In contrast,
Texas passed a ban on first-cousin marriage the same year as Amrhein and Andrews married, evidently in reaction to the presence of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS). Texas Representative Harvey Hilderbran, whose district includes the main FLDS compound, authored an amendment[167] to a child protection statute to both discourage the FLDS from settling in Texas and to "prevent Texas from succumbing to the practices of taking child brides, incest, welfare abuse and domestic violence".[168] While Hilderbran stated that he would not have authored a bill solely to ban first-cousin marriage, he also said in an interview, "Cousins don't get married just like siblings don't get married. And when it happens you have a bad result. It's just not the accepted normal thing."[2] Some news sources then only mentioned the polygamy and child abuse provisions and ignored the cousin marriage portion of the bill, as did some more recent sources.[169][170][171][172] The new statute made sex with an adult first cousin a more serious felony than with adult members of one's immediate family. However, this statute was amended in 2009; while sex with close adult family members (including first cousins) remains a felony, the more serious penalty now attaches to sex with an individual's direct ancestor or descendant.[173]
The U.S. state of
States have various laws regarding marriage between cousins and other close relatives,[176] which involve factors including whether or not the parties to the marriage are half-cousins, double cousins, infertile, over 65, or whether it is a tradition prevalent in a native or ancestry culture, adoption status, in-law, whether or not genetic counseling is required, and whether it is permitted to marry a first cousin once removed.
Russia
Social aspects
Robin Bennett, a University of Washington researcher,[177] has said that much hostility towards married cousins constitutes discrimination.
It's a form of discrimination that nobody talks about. People worry about not getting health insurance—but saying that someone shouldn't marry based on how they're related, when there's no known harm, to me is a form of discrimination."[10]
In a different view, William Saletan of Slate magazine accuses the authors of this study of suffering from the "congenital liberal conceit that science solves all moral questions". While readily conceding that banning cousin marriage cannot be justified on genetic grounds, Saletan asks rhetorically whether it would be acceptable to legalize uncle-niece marriage or "hard-core incest" between siblings and then let genetic screening take care of the resulting problems.[11] An article in The New York Times by Sarah Kershaw documents fear by many married cousins of being treated with derision and contempt. "While many people have a story about a secret cousin crush or kiss, most Americans find the idea of cousins marrying and having children disturbing or even repulsive," notes the article. It gives the example of one mother whose daughter married her cousin. She stated that when she has told people about her daughter's marriage, they have been shocked and that consequently she is afraid to mention it. They live in a small Pennsylvania town and she worries that her grandchildren will be treated as outcasts and ridiculed due to their parental status. Another cousin couple stated that their children's maternal grandparents have never met their two grandchildren because the grandparents severed contact out of disapproval for the couple's marriage.[2]
In most societies, cousin marriage apparently is more common among those of low socio-economic status, among the illiterate and uneducated, and in rural areas.[20] This may be due in part to the token or significantly reduced dowries and bridewealths that exist in such marriages and also the much smaller pool of viable marriage candidates in rural areas. Some societies also report a high prevalence among land-owning families and the ruling elite: here the relevant consideration is thought to be keeping the family estate intact over generations.[21] The average age at marriage is lower for cousin marriages, the difference in one Pakistani study being 1.10 and 0.84 years for first and second cousins, respectively. In Pakistan, the ages of the spouses were also closer together, the age difference declining from 6.5 years for unrelated couples to 4.5 years for first cousins. A marginal increase in time to first birth, from 1.6 years generally to 1.9 years in first cousins, may occur due to the younger age at marriage of consanguineous mothers and resultant adolescent subfertility or delayed consummation.[178]
Predictions that cousin marriage would decline during the late 20th century in areas where it is preferential appear to have been largely incorrect. One reason for this is that in many regions, cousin marriage is not merely a cultural tradition, but is also judged to offer significant social and economic benefits. In South Asia, rising demands for dowry payments have caused dire economic hardship and have been linked to "dowry deaths" in a number of North Indian states. Where permissible, marriage to a close relative is hence regarded as a more economically feasible choice. Second, improvements in public health have led to decreased death rates and increased family sizes, making it easier to find a relative to marry if that is the preferred choice. Increases in cousin marriage in the West may also occur as a result of immigration from Asia and Africa. In the short term, some observers have concluded that the only new forces that could discourage such unions are government bans like the one China enacted in 1981. In the longer term, rates may decline due to decreased family sizes, making it more difficult to find cousins to marry.[179]
Cousin marriage is important in several anthropological theories by prominent authors such as
Lévi-Strauss postulated that cross-cousin marriage had the two consequences of setting up classes which automatically delimit the group of possible spouses and of determining a relationship that can decide whether a prospective spouse is to be desired or excluded. Whereas in other kinship systems one or another of these aspects dominates, in cross-cousin marriage they overlap and cumulate their effects. It differs from incest prohibitions in that the latter employs a series of negative relationships, saying whom one cannot marry, while cross-cousin marriage employs positive relationships, saying whom should marry. Most crucially, cross-cousin marriage is the only type of preferential union that can function normally and exclusively and still give every man and woman the chance to marry a cross-cousin. Unlike other systems such as the levirate, the sororate, or uncle-niece marriage, cross-cousin marriage is preferential because for obvious reasons these others cannot constitute the exclusive or even preponderant rule of marriage in any group. Cross-cousin marriage divides members of the same generation into two approximately equal groups, those of cross-cousins and "siblings" that include real siblings and parallel cousins. Consequently, cross-cousin marriage can be a normal form of marriage in a society, but the other systems above can only be privileged forms. This makes cross-cousin marriage exceptionally important.[181]
Cross-cousin marriage also establishes a division between prescribed and prohibited relatives who, from the viewpoint of biological proximity, are strictly interchangeable. Lévi-Strauss thought that this proved that the origin of the incest prohibition is purely social and not biological. Cross-cousin marriage in effect allowed the anthropologist to control for biological degree by studying a situation where the degree of prohibited and prescribed spouses were equal. In understanding why two relatives of the same biological degree would be treated so differently, Lévi-Strauss wrote, it would be possible to understand not only the principle of cross-cousin marriage but of the incest prohibition itself. For Lévi-Strauss cross-cousin marriage was not either socially arbitrary or a secondary consequence of other institutions like dual organization or the practice of exogamy. Instead, the raison d'etre of cross-cousin marriage could be found within the institution itself. Of the three types of institution of exogamy rules, dual organization, and cross-cousin marriage, the last was most significant, making the analysis of this form of marriage the crucial test for any theory of marriage prohibitions.[182]
Matrilateral cross-cousin marriage has been found by some anthropological researchers to be correlated with patripotestal jural authority, meaning rights or obligations of the father. According to some theories, in these kinship systems a man marries his matrilateral cross-cousin due to associating her with his nurturant mother. Due to this association, possibly reinforced by personal interaction with a specific cousin, he may become "fond" of her, rendering the relationship "sentimentally appropriate".[183] Patrilateral cross-cousin marriage is the rarest of all types of cousin marriage, and there is some question as to whether it even exists.[184]
In contrast to Lévi-Strauss who viewed the exchange of women under matrilateral cross-cousin marriage as fundamentally egalitarian, anthropologist Edmund Leach held that such systems by nature created groups of junior and senior status and were part of the political structure of society. Under Leach's model, in systems where this form of marriage segregates descent groups into wife-givers and wife-takers, the social status of the two categories also cannot be determined by a priori arguments. Groups like the Kachin exhibiting matrilateral cross-cousin marriage do not exchange women in circular structures; where such structures do exist they are unstable. Moreover, the exchanging groups are not major segments of the society, but rather local descent groups from the same or closely neighboring communities. Lévi-Strauss held that women were always exchanged for some "prestation" which could either be other women or labor and material goods. Leach agreed but added that prestations could also take the form of intangible assets like "prestige" or "status" that might belong to either wife-givers or wife-takers.[185]
Anthropologists
A recent research study of 70 nations has found a statistically significant negative correlation between consanguineous kinship networks and democracy. The authors note that other factors, such as restricted genetic conditions, may also explain this relationship.[190] This follows a 2003 Steve Sailer essay published for The American Conservative, where he claimed that high rates of cousin marriage play an important role in discouraging political democracy. Sailer believes that because families practicing cousin marriage are more related to one another than otherwise, their feelings of family loyalty tend to be unusually intense, fostering nepotism.[191]
Religious views
Hebrew Bible
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/JvFuhrichJosephRachel.jpg/250px-JvFuhrichJosephRachel.jpg)
Cousins are not included in the lists of prohibited relationships set out in the
There are several examples in the Bible of cousins marrying.
Christianity
Roman Catholicism
In
There are several explanations for the rise of Catholic cousin marriage prohibitions after the fall of Rome. One explanation is increasing Germanic influence on church policy. G.E. Howard states, "During the period preceding the Teutonic invasion, speaking broadly, the church adhered to Roman law and custom; thereafter those of the Germans ... were accepted."[195] On the other hand, it has also been argued that the bans were a reaction against local Germanic customs of kindred marriage.[196] At least one Frankish King, Pepin the Short, apparently viewed close kin marriages among nobles as a threat to his power.[197] Whatever the reasons, written justifications for such bans had been advanced by St. Augustine by the fifth century. "It is very reasonable and just", he wrote, "that one man should not himself sustain many relationships, but that various relationships should be distributed among several, and thus serve to bind together the greatest number in the same social interests".[3] Taking a contrary view, Protestants writing after the Reformation tended to see the prohibitions and the dispensations needed to circumvent them as part of an undesirable church scheme to accrue wealth, or "lucre".[3]
Since the 13th century, the Catholic Church has measured consanguinity according to what is called the civil-law method. Under this method, the degree of relationship between lineal relatives (i.e., a man and his grandfather) is simply equal to the number of generations between them. However, the degree of relationship between collateral (non-lineal) relatives equals the number of links in the family tree from one person, up to the common ancestor, and then back to the other person. Thus brothers are related in the second degree, and first cousins in the fourth degree.[198]
The 1913
Protestant
Eastern Orthodox
In contrast to both Protestantism and Catholicism, the Eastern Orthodox Church prohibits up to second cousins from marrying.[20] But, according to the latest constitution (of 2010) of The Orthodox Church of Cyprus, second cousins may marry as the restriction is placed up to relatives of the 5th degree.[202] The reasoning is that marriage between close relatives can lead to intrafamily strife.
Islam
The
O Prophet, indeed We have made lawful to you your wives to whom you have given their due compensation and those your right hand possesses from what Allah has returned to you [of captives] and the daughters of your paternal uncles and the daughters of your paternal aunts and the daughters of your maternal uncles and the daughters of your maternal aunts who emigrated with you and a believing woman if she gives herself to the Prophet [and] if the Prophet wishes to marry her, [this is] only for you, excluding the [other] believers. We certainly know what We have made obligatory upon them concerning their wives and those their right hands possess, [but this is for you] in order that there will be upon you no discomfort. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful.[203][204]
Many of the immediate successors of Muhammad also took a cousin as one of their wives.
Although marrying his cousin himself, Umar, the second Caliph, discouraged marrying within one's bloodline or close cousins recurringly over generations and advised those who had done so to marry people unrelated to them, by telling a household that did so, "You have become frail, so marry intelligent people unrelated to you."[210]
Though many Muslims marry their cousins now, two of the
Hinduism
The
In the 18th and 19th centuries,
In scriptures
In the
Other religions
Zoroastrianism allows cousin marriages.[citation needed]
Biological aspects
Genetics
Cousin marriages have genetic aspects that increase the chance of sharing genes for recessive traits. The percentage of consanguinity between any two individuals decreases fourfold as the most recent common ancestor recedes one generation. First cousins have four times the consanguinity of second cousins, while first cousins once removed have half that of first cousins. Double first cousins have twice that of first cousins and are as related as half-siblings.
In April 2002, the Journal of Genetic Counseling released a report which estimated the average risk of
Repeated consanguineous marriages within a group are more problematic. After repeated generations of cousin marriage the actual genetic relationship between two people is closer than the most immediate relationship would suggest. In Pakistan, where there has been cousin marriage for generations and the current rate may exceed 50%, one study estimated infant mortality at 12.7 percent for married double first cousins, 7.9 percent for first cousins, 9.2 percent for first cousins once removed/double second cousins, 6.9 percent for second cousins, and 5.1 percent among nonconsanguineous progeny. Among double first cousin progeny, 41.2 percent of prereproductive deaths were associated with the expression of detrimental recessive genes, with equivalent values of 26.0, 14.9, and 8.1 percent for first cousins, first cousins once removed/double second cousins, and second cousins respectively.[221]
Even in the absence of preferential consanguinity, alleles that are rare in large populations can randomly increase to high frequency in small groups within a few generations due to the
Studies into the effect of cousin marriage on
The Latin American Collaborative Study of Congenital Malformation found an association between consanguinity and hydrocephalus, postaxial polydactyly, and bilateral oral and facial clefts. Another picture emerges from the large literature on congenital heart defects, which are conservatively estimated to have an incidence of 50/1,000 live births. A consistent positive association between consanguinity and disorders such as ventricular septal defect and atrial septal defect has been demonstrated, but both positive and negative associations with patent ductus arteriosus, atrioventricular septal defect, pulmonary atresia, and Tetralogy of Fallot have been reported in different populations. Associations between consanguinity and Alzheimer's disease have been found in certain populations.[230] Studies into the influence of inbreeding on anthropometric measurements at birth and in childhood have failed to reveal any major and consistent pattern, and only marginal declines were shown in the mean scores attained by consanguineous progeny in tests of intellectual capacity. In the latter case, it would appear that inbreeding mainly leads to greater variance in IQ levels, due in part to the expression of detrimental recessive genes in a small proportion of those tested.[231]
A BBC report discussed Pakistanis in Britain, 55% of whom marry a first cousin.[232] Given the high rate of such marriages, many children come from repeat generations of first-cousin marriages. The report states that these children are 13 times more likely than the general population to produce children with genetic disorders, and one in ten children of first-cousin marriages in Birmingham either dies in infancy or develops a serious disability. The BBC also states that Pakistani-Britons, who account for some 3% of all births in the UK, produce "just under a third" of all British children with genetic illnesses. Published studies show that mean perinatal mortality in the Pakistani community of 15.7 per thousand significantly exceeds that in the indigenous population and all other ethnic groups in Britain. Congenital anomalies account for 41 percent of all British Pakistani infant deaths.[233] Finally, in 2010 the Telegraph reported that cousin marriage among the British Pakistani community resulted in 700 children being born every year with genetic disabilities.[234]
The increased mortality and birth defects observed among British Pakistanis may, however, have another source besides current consanguinity. This is
Comprehensive genetic education and premarital genetic counseling programs can help to lessen the burden of genetic diseases in endogamous communities. Genetic education programs directed at high-school students have been successful in Middle Eastern countries such as Bahrain. Genetic counseling in developing countries has been hampered, however, by lack of trained staff, and couples may refuse prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion despite the endorsement of religious authorities.[238] In Britain, the Human Genetics Commission recommends a strategy comparable with previous strategies in dealing with increased maternal age, notably as this age relates to an increased risk of Down syndrome. All pregnant women in Britain are offered a screening test from the government-run national health service to identify those at an increased risk of having a baby with Down syndrome. The HGC states that similarly, it is appropriate to offer genetic counseling to consanguineous couples, preferably before they conceive, in order to establish the precise risk of a genetic abnormality in offspring. Under this system the offering of genetic counseling can be refused, unlike, for example, in the US state of Maine where genetic counseling is mandatory to obtain a marriage license for first cousins. Leading researcher Alan Bittles also concluded that though consanguinity clearly has a significant effect on childhood mortality and genetic disease in areas where it is common, it is "essential that the levels of expressed genetic defect be kept in perspective, and to realize that the outcome of consanguineous marriages is not subject to assessment solely in terms of comparative medical audit".[239] He states that the social, cultural, and economic benefits of cousin marriage also need to be fully considered.[240]
In
Fertility
Higher total fertility rates are reported for cousin marriages than average, a phenomenon noted as far back as
See also
- Affinity (Catholic canon law)
- Assortative mating
- Avunculate marriage
- Beauty and the Beast
- Coefficient of relationship
- Consanguine marriage
- Cousin marriage in the Middle East
- Cousin marriage law in the United States
- Endogamy
- Genetic distance
- Genetic diversity
- Genetic sexual attraction
- Inbreeding
- Inbreeding avoidance
- Inbreeding depression
- Incest taboo
- Jetyata
- Jewish views on incest
- Legality of incest
- List of coupled cousins
- Mahram
- Pedigree collapse
- Proximity of blood
- Sibling marriage
- Watta satta
- Westermarck effect
- Prohibited degree of kinship
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- Grubbs, Judith Evans (2002). Women and the law in the Roman Empire. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-15240-2. Retrieved 13 February 2010.
- Hajnal, J.; et al. (10 December 1963). "Concepts of Random Mating and the Frequency of Consanguineous Marriages". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 159 (974): 125–177. S2CID 45211684.
- Holý, Ladislav (1989). Kinship, honour, and solidarity: cousin marriage in the Middle East. Manchester University Press ND. ISBN 978-0-7190-2890-8.
- Hostetler, John Andrew (1993). Amish Society. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-4442-3.
- Leach, Edmund (2009). "The Structural Implications of Matrilateral Cross-Cousin Marriage". S2CID 149509001.
- Meriwether, Margaret Lee (1999). The Kin Who Count: Family and Society in Ottoman Aleppo, 1770-1840. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-75224-5.
- McKay, Mary Jayne (8 June 2005). "Genetic Disorders Hit Amish Hard". CBS. Retrieved 10 February 2010.
- JSTOR 666210.
- Ottenheimer, Martin (1996). Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage. Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
- Patterson, Cynthia B. (1998). The Family in Greek History. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-29270-3.
- Prem, Chowdhry (2004). "Consanguineous Unions and Child Health in the State of Qatar". Modern Asian Studies. 38 (1): 55–84.
- "Polygamist community faces genetic disorder". Reuters. 15 June 2007. Archived from the original on 13 December 2010. Retrieved 10 February 2010.
- Qin, Zhaoxiong (22 September 2001). "Rethinking Cousin Marriage in Rural China". JSTOR 3773881.
- Shami, S A; Schmitt, L H; Bittles, A H (1989). "Consanguinity related prenatal and postnatal mortality of the populations of seven Pakistani Punjab cities". Journal of Medical Genetics. 26 (4): 267–271. PMID 2716036.
- Shaw, Brent; Saller, Richard (September 1984). "Close-Kin Marriage in Roman Society?". Man. New Series. 19 (3): 432–444. JSTOR 2802181.
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- Westermarck, Edward (1922). The History of Human Marriage. New York: Allerton Book Co.
Further reading
- Abbink, Jon (December 1998). "An Historical-Anthropological Approach to Islam in Ethiopia: Issues of Identity and Politics". JSTOR 1771876.
- Baba of Karo; Smith, Mary Felice (1981). Baba of Karo. Yale University. ISBN 978-0-300-02741-9.
- Bittles, Alan H.; et al. (10 May 1991). "Reproductive Behavior and Health in Consanguineous Marriages". S2CID 1352617.
- "Census of India, Population by Religious Communities". Census of India. Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India. 2001. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
- "Nigeria". The CIA World Factbook. US Central Intelligence Agency. 15 January 2010. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
- Crummey, Donald (1983). "Family and Property amongst the Amhara Nobility". S2CID 162655681.
- Dawson, Miles Menander, ed. (1915). "The Family". The Ethics of Confucius. New York: Putnam.
- Dyson, Tim; Moore, Mick (March 1983). "On Kinship Structure, Female Autonomy, and Demographic Behavior in India". S2CID 96442923.
- "2007 Census" (PDF). Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 February 2012.
- Feng, Han-yi (1967). The Chinese Kinship System. Cambridge: Harvard.
- Givens, Benjamin P.; Hirschman, Charles (November 1994). "Modernization and Consanguineous Marriage in Iran". JSTOR 353595.
- Hsu, Francis L. K. (January–March 1945). "Observations on Cross-Cousin Marriage in China". JSTOR 663208.
- "Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China". Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in New York. 14 November 2003. Archived from the original on 11 February 2010. Retrieved 21 June 2010.
- "Learning from Children, Families, and Communities to Increase Girls' Participation in Primary School (Ethiopia)" (PDF). Save the Children USA. 31 July 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 January 2017. Retrieved 8 February 2010.
- Schwimmer, Brian (September 2003). "Census of India, Population by Religious Communities". Kinship and Social Organization. Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
- Scott-Emuakpori, Ajovi B. (1974). "The Mutation Load in an African Population". Am J Hum Genet. 26 (2): 674–682.
- Suberu, Rotimi T. (2001). Federalism and ethnic conflict in Nigeria. Washington, DC: Endowment of the United States Institute of Peace. ISBN 978-1-929223-28-2.
- Swanson, Eleanor C.; Robert O. Lagace. "Hausa". Ethnographic Atlas. Centre for Social Anthropology and Computing, University of Kent at Canterbury. Archived from the original on 17 February 2010. Retrieved 8 February 2010.
- "Marriages between cousins has become more common in the UAE". khaleejtimes. 20 November 2009. Archived from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg/40px-Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg.png)
- Consanguinity/Endogamy Resource Archived 2 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine by Dr. Alan Bittles and Dr. Michael Black
- Shaking Off the Shame by Sarah Kershaw for The New York Times
- Forbidden Fruit Archived 3 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine by John Dougherty