If cousins get married and have children...?

Question

do the children end up being retarted (mentally or physically)?

looking for serious answers (and i WILL choose a best answer)

Answer 1

This question can not be answered definitely for
any particular couple, because it depends on the
genetic makeup of each person. The only answer
possible is one that gives an average result, or a
probability of some kind. This has to be based on
a study of many such marriages and their results.

The cause of any problems that may arise is the
bringing together of two recessive alleles of one
or more pairs of genes in the couple's children.
We all carry such recessive alleles, and the only
way to calculate results is to know the frequency
of each allele in the whole population. With this
information we can calculate the probability of
having two of them in a child. If the allele occurs
in one out of a thousand people, the probability
that any child will carry two of the recessive allele
(assuming I have figured correctly) is one out of
4 million. (This is one thousandth for its presence
in each parent, times one fourth for its being
received by the child from each parent: one
thousandth times one thousandth times one fourth)
The more closely related two people are the
greater the probability that they will each carry the
same recessive allele.

A single marriage between even first cousins is
unlikely to cause a significant increase in the
probability of a retarded child. It is only when the
intermarriage of close relatives in a given lineage
is repeated several times that problems are likely
to become frequent. Both the Egyptian and the
Polynesian rulers frequently married their sisters,
in fact they were expected to do so. Only after
the practice had gone on for some time did the
difficulties it caused become apparent.

There is nothing morally wrong about cousin marriages. I believe marriages between second
cousins are legal in this country, and even first
cousin marriages may still be, at least in some
states.

Answer 2

No, not necessarily. There are societies where cousins get married together and there's hardly any problem at all. The problem starts when the generations after that get married between cousins as well. There's a concrete example that I can give you that i read about a society that lives in Northern Africa called Mozabite. They marry only family members (cousins and distant cousins), if you look at them as a whole you'll find that they're not retarded or anything but a lot of them have sight problems; most of them wear glasses. Also another characteristic of this society, is that they're very shy people and barely interact with people outside their culture, although this hasn't been proved scientifically that it was due to close family marriage.
So to sum up, if two cousins get married, they have the same chance to have a mentally (or physically) challenged child as any other two people who get married and aren't related. But if the second, third, fourth, generation keep doing that, then that's what can cause some alterations to the norms. This is due to the fact that the DNA isn't regenerated in the family tree, therefore, if there are any diseases in that DNA they'll perpetuate in the family.
Hope this helps :)

Answer 3

If there is a genetic defect in a family spanning over several generations, it is possible that cousins may be affected, they can be suffering from the disease already, it can have a late onset in life or they could just be carriers. I guess the argument against cousin marriages are that if such a defect exists in the family, there is a slightly increased chance of both individuals carrying some genetic defect. A union between two carriers of a disease or defect gives a 25% chance of the offspring also suffering the disease, providing that the disease is recessive, if dominant, a 75 % chance, but then again, it is also possible that unions between such carriers can exist outside family (ie not cousins). So generally in short, if there is a history of genetic disease in the family, there is a chance in mental & physical retardation being passed to offspring, but equally, the children can be perfectly normal, healthy individuals.

Answer 4

I'll just put this out there: My parents are second cousins by blood. You don't need to tell me how gross you think it is. It skeeves me out too. However, there is no evidence that children of 1st or 2nd cousins are any better or worse off, genetically speaking, than non-related parents. Marriages between cousins has gone on for CENTURIES in just about every well-to-do and royal family in history as a means of keeping bloodlines pure and keeping inheritance within the family.
Actually, there's a building body of evidence to suggest that in fact the exact opposite may be true of marriages between cousins. According to a report published in Discover magazine a few months (maybe a year or more) ago now, studies done on children of cousins show, on average, slightly higher IQ levels.
Remember, it's only fairly recently in our history that this practice has been so stigmatized. Not that I'm a proponent by any means, but in case you're wondering, I graduated with honors from one of the top private universities on the East Coast, I work for a multi-billion dollar Financial firm in Manhattan, and I have never been hospitalized for ill health (broken bones from skiing and horseback riding are a different story). My younger sister is gorgeous and talented and just graduated from college with honors, and also has no particular health issues.

Answer 5

- Liana Cate - 4/5 - - Liana Grace - 4/5 - - Carina Grace - 3/5 - - Adelina Grace - 3/5 - - Aidan Scott - 2.5/5 - Aidan is a yawn - - Nicholas James - 2.5/5 - both end with S - - Liam Nicholas - 3.5/5 - the M and N would favor to blur - - Andrew Declan - 2.5/5 - no %. - - Alexander Declan - 3.5/5 - D's are too close jointly - - you probably did now no longer communicate about any kinfolk named Scott, Declan or James. So how about Declan Scott or James Declan? - - diverse concepts: Dougal, Douglas, Alastar (Irish type of Alexander), Matthew as a replace of Andrew, Ian isntead of Liam, Michalis insted of Nicholas, Dayton as a replace of Aiden -

Answer 6

Actually, I have an answer - based on fact.

My aunt married her first cousin about 45 years ago. They moved to California (from Michigan) because it was legal in California. Anyway...they had two children who are now in their 40's. Both are very intelligent and attractive. Their son is 45 years old now and is a high ranking officer in the US Army. He has a daughter who is 22 and is a pre-med student, and very attractive. Their daughter is now 42, and is gorgeous - she's also a very gifted singer, and makes her living with her awesome voice. She's a very beautiful blond that never had children. She's seen several fertility doctors and they attributed her parents being cousins for some of her infertility problems.

Answer 7

If cousins, or any relatives, get married together, the children are very likely (99.99%) to be deformed and retarded. They will be mentally unstable and physically deformed.
This is because the similar genes of the similar relatives creates a similar gene pool which cause an "imbalance" and hence the phenotypes (characterisitcs) of the offspring are abnormal.
Hope this helps.

Answer 8

The risk increases from 4% for unrelated individuals to 7% for first cousin marriages. This is an increase of 75% (think of it like a sales tax increase from 4% to 7%--people will say it's a big tax hike, right?)

Answer 9

Well the children would be more apt to be abnormal the closer the cousins are. First cousins (Parents are siblings) would pose the most risk, and sometimes children are born normal. But as you go further down the line, second, third, fourth cousins the risk becomes less and less.
Hope that helps. It honestly is more of a risk if it were siblings, or even child and parent.

Answer 10

Actually; My Uncle married his first cousin. He and my aunt had been married for over 60 years when she passed earlier this year. They had 2 perfectly normal children and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren, none of which suffer from mental retardation. I have heard about inbreeding over time resulting in mental retardation but perhaps it only occurs after several subsequent generations also intermarry.
Regards,
Steve