They're the butt of jokes and the (target) of stern laws. Now a study shows cousins run few risks in mating.
Paul had taken his cousin Donna on a long trek through a (remote) part of Colombia. They had missed the day's meals and had only a jar of pickled vegetables and a bottle of drinks. So they repaired to hammocks strung up under the moonlight--and (began) a love story that has lasted 14 years and produced two chidren.
"I was shocked that I had fallen in love with my first (cousin) and surprised that this miracle had fallen on me," says Paul. " My only real concern was the medical issue."
Paul, a graduate student in New York City, and Donna, a financial (adviser), are just two in a long, flourishing line of kissin' first cousins. Charles Darwin wed his cousin Emma and spawned 10 children, (including) four brilliant scientists. Albert Einstein' s second wife Elsa was his first cousin. Queen Victoria said" I do" to hers. So have millions worldwide. In parts of Saudi Arabia, 39% of all marriages are between first cousins.
In the U.S., though, the practice bears a stigma of inbreeding just this side of (incest). The taboo is not only social but legislative; 24 states ban the marriage of first cousins: five others allow it only if the couple is unable to bear children. A major reason for this ban is the belief that kids of first cousins are tragically susceptible to (serious) congenital illnesses.
That view (may) have to change. A comprehensive study published recently in the Journal of Genetic Counseling indicates such children run an only slightly higher risk of significant genetic disorders like congenital heart defects--about two percentage points (above) the average 3% to 4%. Says the study's lead author, Robin Bennett, president-elect of the National Society of Genetic Counselors, which funded the study: "Aside from a thorough medical family history, there is no need to offer any genetic testing on the (basis) of consanguinity alone".
Publication of the study will do more than (tweak) public awareness; it will enlighten doctors who have urged cousin couples not to have children."Just this week," says Bennett， "I saw a 23-year-old woman who had had a tubal ligation because her parents were cousins and her doctor told her she shouldn' t have children." The study cites the case of" Amy," who had (been) in a relationship with her cousin for two years when, in 1996, she became pregnant. Her doctor suggested an abortion, and after a fruitless search for more information, she had the (procedure). This week Amy wrote to the cousincouples.com website that she planned to get many copies of the report--"one that I will personally (deliver) to my ex-gynecologist.
Question)
1. How do you think of intermarriage?
2. What matters most when you choose you mate ?
