Posted on 11/17/2005 8:11:12 AM PST by dennisw
It is estimated that at least 55% of British Pakistanis are married to first cousins and the tradition is also common among some other South Asian communities and in some Middle Eastern countries. But there is a problem: marrying someone who is themselves a close family member carries a risk for children - a risk that lies within the code of life; within our genes.
Communities that practice cousin marriage experience higher levels of some very rare but very serious illnesses - illnesses known as recessive genetic disorders.
Open debate
Now, one Labour MP is calling for an end to the practice. "We have to stop this tradition of first cousin marriages," Keighley MP Ann Cryer tells Newsnight.
Family events are really nice because my in-laws and his are related Neila Butt
Mrs Cryer believes an open debate on the subject is needed because - despite the risks - cousin marriage remains very popular. Mrs Cryer's constituency is in the Bradford area, where the rates of cousin marriage are well above the national average. It is estimated that three out of four marriages within Bradford's Pakistani community are between first cousins.
The practice remains so popular because the community believes there are real benefits to marrying in the family. Many British Pakistanis celebrate cousin marriage because it is thought to generate more stable relationships.
Strong unions
Such unions are seen as strong, building as they do on already tight family networks.
"You have an understanding," explains Neila Butt, who married her first cousin, Farooq, nine years ago. "Family events are really nice because my in-laws and his are related," she says.
"You have the same family history and when you talk about the old times either here or in Pakistan you know who you are talking about. It's just a nicer emotional feel."
But the statistics for recessive genetic illness in cousin marriages make sobering reading.
British Pakistanis are 13 times more likely to have children with genetic disorders than the general population - they account for just over 3% of all births but have just under a third of all British children with such illnesses.
Indeed, Birmingham Primary Care Trust estimates that one in ten of all children born to first cousins in the city either dies in infancy or goes on to develop serious disability as a result of a recessive genetic disorder.
Variant genes
Recessive genetic disorders are caused by variant genes. There are hundreds of different recessive genetic disorders, many associated with severe disability and sometimes early death, and each caused by a different variant gene.
My skin is really fragile, and can blister very easily with a slight knock or tear Myra Ali
We all have two copies of every gene. If you inherit one variant gene you will not fall ill. If, however, a child inherits a copy of the same variant gene from each of its parents it will develop one of these illnesses.
The variant genes that cause genetic illness tend to be very rare. In the general population the likelihood of a couple having the same variant gene is a hundred to one.
In cousin marriages, if one partner has a variant gene the risk that the other has it too is far higher - more like one in eight.
Myra Ali has a very rare recessive genetic condition, known as Epidermolisis Bulosa.
Her parents were first cousins. So were her grandparents.
"My skin is really fragile, and can blister very easily with a slight knock or tear," she says.
Myra has strong views about the practice of cousin marriage as a result. "I'm against it, because there's a high risk of illness occurring", she says.
Denial
We all have to get involved in persuading people to adopt a different lifestyle Ann Cryer MP
According to Ann Cryer MP, whose Keighley constituency has a large Pakistani population, much of the Pakistani community is in denial about the problem. She tells Newsnight that she believes it is time for an open debate on the subject: "As we address problems of smoking, drinking, obesity, we say it's a public health issue, and therefore we all have to get involved with it in persuading people to adopt a different lifestyle", she says.
"I think the same should be applied to this problem in the Asian community. They must adopt a different lifestyle. They must look outside the family for husbands and wives for their young people."
Wow! Really? The Beeb is breaking new ground here.
It is estimated that three out of four marriages within Bradford's Pakistani community are between first cousins.
Such unions are seen as strong, building as they do on already tight family networks.
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"Family events are really nice because my in-laws and his are related," she says.
(Stop plucking that tune from Deliverance!!!)
Explains a lot...
We have to stop this tradition of first cousin marriages," Keighley MP Ann Cryer tells Newsnight.
Ah, but they let royalty do it.
If marrying your first cousin is good, marrying your sister should be even better! Why not?
One cousin marriage doesn't do much harm. It's generations of cousin marriage that leads to problems. It also makes for hyper tribalism and hyper clannishness
now now..this is highly intolerant of customs of those who moved to your country..(sarc/off)
Indeed;
this may even explain the phenomenon known as "islam" also.
Nothin' says lovin' like boffin' your cousin!
Yeah but it keeps down the risk of feudin'. These cousin hitchen's are eggspected.
If she ain't good enough for her own kin, you don't want her. They know more'n you.
Wow! Pakistani rednecks... Who'da thunkit?
Shhhhh!...Shut up now, will ya!
Muslims had declared their wombs as their weapon, domination by over-population. Throw in a healthy dose of natural selection...you have a spanner in their works!
I have a strong suspicion that you are EXACTLY right.
hmmmm so muslims inbreed ? ... this is starting to explain a whole lot.
But it's part of their culture. Who are we to say to them what's good and what's bad. And aren't good and bad relative terms anyway? What did Jesus say about judging?
As O'Reilly has been saying lately, that's an example of satire. That means it's a humorous way of making a point, you'se shouldn't take it seriously.
They are breeding themselves stupid.
My wife is Pakistani and her parents are first cousins and as far as we know their parents were first cousins and so on and so on...It really makes the job of a genealogist quite simple. In a word, it is a huge problem in the South Asian Muslim community, and the cause of great mirth among local Hindus and Sikhs. My sister-in-law (married to her first cousin) has had six miscarriages and two of her children were born with genetic illness. They both subsequently died before their second birthdays. However, if you ask them, being closely related had nothing to do with the early death of their children. The Muslim cemetery in east end Montreal is chock-a-block full with tiny graves. Moreover, two of my brother-in-laws are in consanguineous marriage with predictable results.(nice girls from the North-West frontier, but married to ticking timebombs) But, if you try to broach the subject of the dangers of kissing cousins they insist it is western propaganda. I guess if its ok with Islam then there is nothing wrong with it.
Posted by: spencerd ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/nav-commenters.gif){kind=small}
at November 16, 2005 01:20 PM
She looks really happy about the whole thing, doesn't she?
The Brits should be treating these folks like royalty.
She has pretty hair.
I don't think you're supposed to look at her hair!
She got it from her mom/grandma/aunt...
You know, there's something called "mongrel fortitude". It refers to the observation that mutts are generally healthier and live longer than purebred dogs. I can't see how that is any different with people.
To see the danger of first cousins marrying all you have to do is look at the histories of the royal families of Europe.
Maybe this explains the lust for murder, raving fanaticism and bizarre sexual obsession in Islam?
"It's done to keep the money in the 'family'. Make no mistake about that"
And the genetic disorders! They must be proud of that.
Maybe, maybe not. But it definitely explains why the lust for violence is so extra-ordinarily common amongst Muslims, doesn't it?
More's the pity
I thought it was pretty representative of Europeans as a whole.
...reading.
He never played a note on that banjo. It was the worst simulated instrument playing I've ever seen in a movie.
You know what they do on Halloween?
They pump kin.
No, she got it from Uncle Dad.
These government officials believe the government should regulate and restrict marriage between close relatives. However, I bet many of the same officials believe there should allow no restrictions on the basis of gender (i.e., they should allow homosexual marriage).
This is the hypocrisy of liberals.
I've got a crazy idea. Marriage is a privilege, not a right, and the government has the right to regulate and restrict such a privilege.
If conservatives takes this approach to the debate over homosexual marriage (that it is a debate about the government's right to regulate marriage vs. unregulated marriage), logic is on our side, and we will win the debate every time.
No one can logically argue in favor of homosexual marriage on the basis of "fundamental fairness" and "the government should not impose morality", and then argue in favor the restriction of marriage of close relatives, or against polygamous marriage.
If they use the argument of genetic defects to oppose marriage of close relatives, but still favor homosexual marriage, they establish marriage is about procreation, which is an argument against homosexual marriage. Then if we ask them if the restriction on marriage of close relatives should apply to homosexuals, they are totally trapped. There is no logical reason for it, because procreation does not apply. But if they allow homosexual marriage to include close relatives, but not heterosexuals, they open themselves up to an equal protection challenge.
I used this approach to leave a state democratic representative speechless on the issue.
This is a recipie for clan-based tribalism and incredibly overzealous familial loyalty. Not that family loyalty is bad, but such an intense connection within a group one hopes will more or less assimilate is counterproductive.
If it were just about money, why wouldn't they simply practice arranged marriages between children of families with similar financial status?
If the Pakistani children growing up in the UK have enough influence from Western culture, hopefully they will want to marry their boyfriends/girlfriends that they choose themselves (instead of an unromantic assigned spouse). With modern public school science/health education, they should understand enough about recessive genetic disorders to realize the folly of generations of first-cousin-marriage.
And every Halloween, they gather to pumpkin..
You owe me a keyboard.
Gotta love those Paki's, get slurpees, burpees and herpes.
the high rate of imbecile and malfunctioning members of European royal families
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Charles too?
In the phone directory: Butt, Farooq and Neila.
I imagine they receive a number of prank phone calls.
Yes. I realize I'm being bad. :>)
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