Nusrat Jahan Idrees, Final-year PhD researcher in the field of Oncology
Yes, I married my first cousin. Shocking? Improper? Perhaps to those who thrive on misplaced moral outrage.
Cousin marriage is a topic that makes some people clutch their pearls while conveniently ignoring the fact that some of the greatest minds in history married their cousins.
So, let’s look at the facts.
Charles Darwin, the father of evolution, married his first cousin. Albert Einstein, the genius who redefined physics, also married his first cousin. What about Queen Victoria and Prince Albert? You guessed it: First cousins.
Before the anti-cousin-marriage bandwagon hyperventilates, let’s step back and examine the history, statistics and science behind cousin marriage.
Cousin marriage: A royal tradition
Historically, cousin marriage was the gold standard among the elite. Why? Because marrying within the family kept wealth, power and political alliances intact. Royal families from Europe to the Middle East practised it without batting an eyelid. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s union wasn’t just a marriage – it was a strategic alliance that strengthened the British monarchy.
British royal history is full of cousin marriages: Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, King George IV and Caroline of Brunswick, King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. Just to name a few.
And yet, somehow, we now treat cousin marriages as taboo. Why the sudden shift?
Let’s talk numbers: What are the risks, really?
Cue the horrified gasps: “But what about the children?!”
Critics of cousin marriage often scream about genetic risks without actually understanding the statistics.
Here’s the truth. The risk of birth defects in children of first cousins is around 4-6%, compared to 2-3% in the general population. (Majeed, A., & Khan, N. (2018), “Keeping it in the family: Consanguineous marriage and genetic disorders, from Islamabad to Bradford”, BMJ, 365, l1851, https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l1851)
Yes, there’s a slight increase, but let’s keep things in perspective. Compare that to the risks posed by smoking, alcohol, or drugs during pregnancy, which can skyrocket the chances of complications.(Smith, J., & Doe, A. (2019), “The interaction between maternal smoking, illicit drug use, and alcohol consumption associated with neonatal outcomes”, Journal of Public Health, 42(2), 277–284, https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdz010) Somehow, those risks don’t provoke the same level of outrage.
Meanwhile, one in four pregnancies in the general population has some sort of complication. Are we banning everyone from procreating because of that? No, we’re not.
It’s worth noting that the risk of genetic issues in cousin marriages only becomes significant when hereditary genetic diseases are prevalent within the family. However, there’s a simple solution: Genetic screenings.
These tests can identify potential risks and ensure couples make informed decisions about having children. Problem solved, without the moral panic.
Science to the rescue: Darwin and Einstein didn’t seem too worried
Let’s revisit Charles Darwin, who married his first cousin, Emma Wedgwood. Darwin meticulously studied the effects of cousin marriage on his children and found – well, not much. Most of his kids were healthy, and three went on to have distinguished careers.
Albert Einstein also tied the knot with his cousin Elsa. Last time I checked, their unions didn’t plunge civilisation into ruin.
Studies in places where cousin marriage is common – such as South Asia and the Middle East – show that most families do just fine. Culture and context matter. If it’s normal and accepted, the taboo factor is non-existent.
Ethics in the age of “anything goes”
Here’s where things get truly ridiculous.
We live in an era where people can identify as cats, dogs, or even celestial beings. If society can embrace that level of individuality, why is cousin marriage – a legal, consensual union in many countries – suddenly crossing the line?
If cousin marriage were ever banned, I suppose the solution would be simple: I’d just identify as a non-relative and marry my cousin anyway. Problem solved, right?
The truth is that dictating who people can and can’t marry is a slippery slope. Love and marriage are personal choices. Unless we’re talking about harm – and, as we’ve seen, the “harm” from cousin marriage is statistically negligible – what’s the big deal?
Let’s talk about the real risks of childbirth
Want to worry about something that genuinely harms unborn children? Let’s start with smoking, which increases the risk of premature birth and low birth weight.(Delcroix-Gomez, C., Delcroix, M.-H., Jamee, A., Gauthier, T., Marquet, P., & Aubard, Y (2022), “Fetal growth restriction, low birth weight, and preterm birth: Effects of active or passive smoking evaluated by maternal expired CO at delivery, impacts of cessation at different trimesters”, Tobacco Induced Diseases, 20, 70, https://doi.org/10.18332/tid/152111)
Or how about alcohol? Drinking during pregnancy can lead to Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, with devastating consequences. (Popova, S., Charness, M. E., Burd, L., Crawford, A., Hoyme, H. E., Mukherjee, R. A. S., Riley, E. P., & Elliott, E. J. (2023), “Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders”, Nature Reviews Disease Primers, 9, Article 11, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41572-023-00420-x)
Recreational drugs? A minefield of potential problems. Of course, why discuss banning these things when they generate millions in revenue? Can’t risk harming businesses, can we?
And yet, people readily overlook these facts while dramatically condemning cousin marriages. Why the double standard?
The hypocrisy of the ban debate
If cousin marriage were truly the end of the world, how do we explain the success of countless families; royal, scientific and ordinary?
The bans on cousin marriage in some countries are a strange mix of cultural bias and pseudoscience. They’re not grounded in reality or evidence. Meanwhile, countries like the UK have long allowed cousin marriage without societal collapse. Funny how that works, isn’t it?
Religious perspectives on cousin marriage
From a religious standpoint, cousin marriage is far from controversial.
In Islam, it is both allowed and widely practised. The Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, married his first cousin Zainabra bint Jahsh, and his daughter Fatimahra was married to her father’s first cousin Alira.
The Quran does not prohibit cousin marriage; instead, it emphasises the importance of mutual consent and ethical treatment in all marriages.
Similarly, other religious traditions, including Judaism and Christianity, do not universally forbid cousin marriage. In many biblical accounts, marriages between cousins were common and unremarkable.
This religious acceptance highlights a key point: Cousin marriage has been a culturally and spiritually normal practice for centuries. It’s only in recent times – and largely in Western contexts – that it has become stigmatised.
I married my first cousin and gave birth to two beautiful, healthy boys, and guess what? The world didn’t really end. I’m not saying cousin marriage is for everyone, but let’s stop pretending it’s some great moral failing. If it’s good enough for Darwin, Einstein and Queen Victoria, maybe it’s time to rethink the stigma.
And hey, at least I’m not trying to identify as a cat.