Because my paternal grandparents were first cousins and I think my Dad suffered consequences.
It’s a known fact that incest causes problems.
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I kinda thought so. It’s like the couple is too lazy to put up with someone different and it shows up in the genetic sameness that causes weaknesses.
Not to far in the distant past when folks rarely left their hometown, well, the pickens were quite slim.
Hard to find someone not related to the family.
No one blinked an eye when a widow chose whoever was availablle.
A reason why the church kept the family records. Incest isn’t good for sexual reproduction. Cousins were common is small communities but 1st cousins in is pretty much discouraged for the betterment of the species!
Well, it’s why there are laws against incest. I don’t know specifically what incest does between first cousins but it’s generally frowned upon and taboo in almost every culture on earth.
In earlier times, in England around the 16th or 17th century, it was common for the royal family to interbreed and those unions produced some pretty messed up people.
And so you had rulers in England who had all this power to head a country but they had some weird and dangerous flaws.
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In terms of plants if I remember correctly from biology, plants that are more genetically diverse are more prepared to overcome harsh environments than plants that don’t have this genetic diversity cos they have higher likelihood of having the genes able to cope with more genetic diversity.
Cousins actually share very little DNA and thus birth defects would be unlikely. (Though technically possible)
Now siblings or parent and child reproducing would absolutely create a high risk for a child with birth or cognitive defects. That’s just scientific fact.
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Just look at king Joffrey
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Those Lannister folks. They were all sorts of crazy.
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King Tut married his half sister.
Okay, I assume this is a genetics question.
From my knowledge (gathering all information about recessive genetic conditions): There are two inheritance patterns: autosomal dominant and autosomal recessive. Autosomal dominant means that you are getting this disease from one of your parents, and autosomal recessive means that you are getting two copies of mutation in the same gene from your parents, one each for one parent. Both parents do not have the disease in this case, but they just carry the mutation.
Many of recessive conditions are inherited from generations to generations, meaning that many of the family members can share the same mutations. Some recessive conditions can cause intellectual disability and deformity.
Although I am not a doctor, I would highly advise your father to get a genetic testing. The geneticist will know which panel to screen for. I was screened with neuromuscular panel, but your father might use a different panel or even the whole exome sequencing method. Depending if your paternal grandparents are still living, you can ask them to get a genetic testing done as well.
I have a recessive condition (titinopathy). My parents were not first cousins and were from completely different households but I still got the disease. The risk of your father getting a genetic condition is much higher than parents who were not first cousins.
I am thinking of your family- it’s really tough. It’s tough for our family right now, even. Please know that you are not alone; I am a living example of that. Also, there is hope- please do not give up. If your father indeed has a genetic condition, please know that there are many promising trials that are being developed for genetic diseases, which I’m really excited about.
Please know that I’m here for you. <3
There are also many communities for rare genetic conditions. If you are interested, I can direct you there also.
Much love!
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I think in the USA that it’s illegal to marry your first cousin. I think you have to be third cousins.
Iceland has a dating app which checks how closely related you are
It is also illegal to marry first cousins in South Korea as well.
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I am 74. My father and grandparents passed on.
My grandparents lived in Germany.
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I wouldn’t marry any of my cousins anyway even if we weren’t related. I have one cousin who’s an arrogant ■■■■■■■.
I don’t have too much to add that hasn’t already been said, but I liken your question to dog breeding, where closer in-breedings are called line breeding. There was a certain Australian Shepherd that won like mad, so everyone used him as a stud. It’s hard to find a pedigree he’s not on somewhere down the line. Then, the Aussies that were bred with him were bred to his other offspring. Turns out, this popular dog passed on epilepsy and hip dysplasia. Yikes!