I've just met my cousins in America after ten years. And the cousins in Pakistan were all girls. So I don't have any attachment for them and I'm sure that they don't have it for me. excrpt for thinking that they are brothers and I'm their sister. I've some cousins in S.Africa, who I've never met in my whole life. Their parents once visited Pakistan and had a little conversation about me or my sister getting married to their son. But I hope it never comes up again because I think marriages should always be outside the family!
ummmm… I’m from Mississippi which is a southern state in the US but I’m not white trash, at all!!
http://www3.pak.org/gupshup/smilies/rolleyes.gif
I do know what your talking about though. I do agree that marrying or having kids with any of your family is just plain SICK!!
http://www3.pak.org/gupshup/smilies/disgust.gif
~~Öñë Ðåÿ ÿøú® þ®îñcë wïll cømë, mïñë jú§t töøk å w®øñg +ú®ñ, gö+ lø§t, åñÐ î§ +ö §+úßßø®ñ +ø å§k fö® Ðï®ëc+îöñ§~*~
I cant speak for all americans..but no..marring a cousin is wrong.Some families have no morals and wont say anything and think its ok. Especially when its second or third cousin....
I think its awful..and would never consider it....ughhhhhhhh
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/04/science/04COUS.html
Few risks to kids of first cousin marriages.
Contrary to widely held beliefs and longstanding taboos in America, first cousins can have children together without a great risk of birth defects or genetic disease, scientists are reporting today. They say there is no biological reason to discourage cousins from marrying.
First cousins are somewhat more likely than unrelated parents to have a child with a serious birth defect, mental retardation or genetic disease, but their increased risk is nowhere near as large as most people think, the scientists said.
In the general population, the risk that a child will be born with a serious problem like spina bifida or cystic fibrosis is 3 percent to 4 percent; to that background risk, first cousins must add another 1.7 to 2.8 percentage points, the report said.
Although the increase represents a near doubling of the risk, the result is still not considered large enough to discourage cousins from having children, said Dr. Arno Motulsky, a professor emeritus of medicine and genome sciences at the University of Washington, and the senior author of the report.
“In terms of general risks in life it’s not very high,” Dr. Motulsky said. Even at its worst, 7 percent, he said, “93 percent of the time, nothing is going to happen.”
The report is in today’s issue of The Journal of Genetic Counseling.
“As genetic advisers,” Dr. Motulsky said, “we give people all the various possibilities and risks and leave it up to them to make a decision. Some might decide a doubling of the risk is not something they want to face.”
He and his colleagues said no one questioned the right of people with genetic disorders to have children, even though some have far higher levels of risk than first cousins. For example, people with Huntington’s disease, a severe neurological disorder that comes on in adulthood, have a 50 percent chance of passing the disease to their children.
The researchers, a panel convened by the National Society of Genetic Counselors, based their conclusions on a review of six major studies conducted from 1965 to August 2000, involving many thousands of births.
Dr. Motulsky said medical geneticists had known for a long time that there was little or no harm in cousins marrying and having children. “Somehow, this hasn’t become general knowledge,” even among doctors, he said.
Twenty-four states have laws forbidding first cousins from marrying, and seven states have limits like requiring genetic counseling. But no countries in Europe have such prohibitions, and in parts of the Middle East, Africa and Asia, marriages between cousins are considered preferable.
“In some parts of the world,” the report says, “20 to 60 percent of all marriages are between close biological relatives.”
Dr. Motulsky said many immigrants from cultures where cousin marriages are common expect to continue the tradition in the United States, and doctors and genetic counselors should respect their wishes.
Laws against cousin marriage should be abolished, he said. Even though longstanding ones reflect a view that such marriages are “really bad,” he said, “the data show it isn’t that bad.”
Dr. Motulsky said researchers did not know why marriage between cousins was viewed with such distaste in the United States. He said some of the revulsion might have stemmed from the eugenics movement, which intended to improve the human race by deciding who should be allowed to breed. The movement flourished in this country early in the 20th century.
It is not known how many cousins marry or live together. Estimates of marriages between related people, which include first cousins and more distant ones, range from less than 0.1 percent of the general population to 1.5 percent. In the past, small studies have found much higher rates in some areas. A survey in 1942 found 18.7 percent in a small town in Kentucky and a 1980 study found 33 percent in a Mennonite community in Kansas.
The report made a point of saying that the term “incest” should not be applied to cousins but only to sexual relations between siblings or between parents and children. Babies who result from those unions are thought to be at significantly higher risk of genetic problems, the report said, but there is not enough data to be sure.
The new report says that genetic counselors should advise cousins who want to have children together in much the same way they advise everybody else and that no extra genetic tests are required before conception.
The guidelines urge counselors to take a thorough family history and, as they do for all clients, look for any diseases that might run in the family or in the clients’ ethnic groups and order tests accordingly. During pregnancy, the woman should have the standard blood tests used to screen for certain neurological problems and other disorders and an ultrasound examination.
Their children should be tested as newborns for deafness and certain rare metabolic diseases — tests already given to all newborns in some parts of the country. These are among the conditions that may be slightly more likely to occur in children whose parents are cousins. Some of the metabolic problems are treatable, and children with hearing losses do better if they get help early in life.
Dr. Motulsky said that the panel of experts began working on the cousin question about two years ago after a survey of counselors found a lot of variability — and misinformation — in the advice given to people who wanted to know whether cousins could safely have children together.
The president-elect of the National Society of Genetic Counselors, Robin L. Bennett, who is a co-author of the report and a genetic counselor at the University of Washington, said: “Just this week I saw a 23-year-old woman whose parents were cousins, and she was told to have a tubal ligation, which she did at the age 21, because of the risk to her children. And there’s no risk to her children. People are getting this information from small-town doctors who may not know the risk, don’t have access to this information and just assume it’s a big risk.”
The young woman hopes to have the operation reversed, Ms. Bennett said.
The article in the geneticists’ journal includes a personal account from a woman who said she had lived with her cousin for six years, “and we are madly in love.” When she became pregnant, she said, her gynecologist warned that the child would be sickly and urged her to have an abortion. A relative predicted that the baby would be retarded. She had the abortion, she said, and called it “the worst mistake of my life.”
When she learned later that the increased risk of birth defects was actually quite small, she said, "I cried and cried. "
The small increase in risk is thought to occur because related people may be carrying some of the same disease-causing genes, inherited from common ancestors. The problems arise from recessive genes, which have no effect on people who carry single copies, but can cause disease in a person who inherits two copies of the gene, one from each parent. When two carriers of a recessive gene have a child, the child has a one-in-four chance of inheriting two copies of that gene. When that happens, disease can result. Cystic fibrosis and the fatal Tay-Sachs disease, for example, are caused by recessive genes. Unrelated people share fewer genes and so their risk of illness caused by recessive genes is a bit lower.
Keith T., 30, said he married his cousin seven years ago and in 1998, frustrated by the lack of information for cousins who wanted to marry, he started a Web site, cousincouples.com. It is full of postings from people who say they have married their cousins or want to do so.
The site highlights famous people who married their first cousins, including Charles Darwin, who, with Emma Wedgwood, had 10 children, all healthy, some brilliant. Mr. T. asked that his full name not be used because he said he did business in a small town and feared that he would lose customers if they found out his wife was also his cousin.
“If someone told me when I was young that I’d marry my cousin I would have said they were crazy,” he said. “I thought the idea of marrying your cousin was kind of icky.”
Mr. T. said he was relieved to learn years ago that cousins’ risks of birth defects, while higher than those of unrelated people, were still relatively low, and that he and his wife hoped to have children.
Those who argued that cousin marriages are somehow ‘medically’ unfit are at mistake.
In fact where the ‘weaker’ genes have a better chance to be part of the genetic structure, there is a far greater chance for the ‘stronger’ genes to meet!
And some go as far as arguing that due to natural selection the weaker genes are cleansed and as a whole the society is more genetically healthier.
Heyyyy, how could you forget Alabama???
here is something for those who oppose cousin marriages just on medical grounds:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/HEALTH/04/04/marrying.cousins.ap/index.html
Is it illegal to marry your cousin in USA??
Pyaar Bhi Zindagi Ki Tarah Hota Hay.
Hur Mor Asan Nahin Hota, Hur Mor Pay Khushi Nahin Milti;
Pur Jub Hum Zindagi Ka Saath Nahin Chortay To Pyaar Ka Saath Kyon Chorayn
[quote]
Originally posted by dewana tera:
**Is it illegal to marry your cousin in USA??
**
[/quote]
It is illegal in some states, really don't know the names, but I think all will change after the new discovery about cousin having very few problems with their babies.
24 states have laws not allowing cousin marriage. Also check www.cousincouple.com
I think there is nothing wrong with marring your cousin. Its not a big deal in the rest of the world, its only a big deal here in the US.
Let me change the subject here for a moment.
I would love to see a poll taken to see how many "American women" are virgins on their wedding night. Once I was watching the View and they were asking the audience how many of them were virgins on their wedding night, they laughed. They thought its soooo old fashion and doesn't happen anymore. And they say we have no hayaa.
It depends on person’s nature whether he/she wants to marry with his/her cousin
http://www3.pak.org/gupshup/smilies/hehe.gif
Simple
http://www3.pak.org/gupshup/smilies/smile.gif
Take Your Best Shot At Me
The link doesn’t work.
Pyaar Bhi Zindagi Ki Tarah Hota Hay.
Hur Mor Asan Nahin Hota, Hur Mor Pay Khushi Nahin Milti;
Pur Jub Hum Zindagi Ka Saath Nahin Chortay To Pyaar Ka Saath Kyon Chorayn
If there are medical harms, one should be cautious.
But if u fall in love with a cousin then "mohabbat mein sub jaiz ha".
The link is
http://www.cousincouples.com (s is missing).
Sounds like you are in love with your cousin
http://www3.pak.org/gupshup/smilies/wink.gif
Good Job
http://www3.pak.org/gupshup/smilies/biggthumb.gif
Love Can Happens..Any Time
my parents were cousins, and i turned out normal......but then again they were a$$ holes, and i left home when i was 12
[quote]
Originally posted by RobVanDamMark:
my parents were cousins, and i turned out normal......but then again they were a$$ holes, and i left home when i was 12
[/quote]
Dude u have problems!
Pyaar Bhi Zindagi Ki Tarah Hota Hay.
Hur Mor Asan Nahin Hota, Hur Mor Pay Khushi Nahin Milti;
Pur Jub Hum Zindagi Ka Saath Nahin Chortay To Pyaar Ka Saath Kyon Chorayn
Where did the term Puppy Love …Kissing Cousins come…I think christians & many other culture can marry & do marry cousins if it comes to this…
My opinion :if you happen to find a suitable man or woman who happens to be also related as cousin..it can only empower your relationship like one more thing in common.
Its the ignorence,prejudice of half baked scientists (im geneticists myself)alien culture etc. that has given a taboo like stigma to a fact which should be celebrated ,& shared!!!
Roshan.
ALL the false propoganda crticism,& snickering by kafirs about islam being 7th century not relevent in modern times …just one e.g. how modern science compliments emperical facts of 7th century tolerence.Equality,women rights & jurisprudence far better than any other.so far. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101020415-227514,00.html
Society
Cousins: A New Theory of Relativity
They’re the butt of jokes and the target of stern laws. Now a study shows cousins run few risks in mating
BY RICHARD CORLISS
Monday, Apr. 15, 2002
Yes we’re all cousins,
That’s what I believe,
Because we’re children
of Adam and Eve…
But we’re kissin’ cousins
'n that’ll make it all right.
–Elvis Presley song, 1964It began with some cousin cuisine. Paul Gonzalez 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 Johnnie Walker Black Label. So they repaired to hammocks strung up under the moonlight–and began a love story that has lasted 14 years and produced two children.]
] LATEST COVER STORY
The Facts About Fertility
Apr. 15, 2002
]
CNN.com: Breaking News
]
]
“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 (the Jerry Lee Lewis syndrome) 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 last week in the Journal of Genetic Counseling indicates such children run an only slightly higher risk of significant genetic disorders like cystic fibrosis or 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."The American proscription against cousin marriages grew in the 19th century as wilderness settlers tried to distinguish themselves from the “savage” Indians, says Martin Ottenheimer, author of the book Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage. “The truth is that Europeans were marrying their cousins and Native Americans were not.” And doesn’t God have stern words on the subject? Christie Smith, 37, a Nevada writer, says she felt guilty when she fell in love with her first cousin’s son Mark. “I was trying so hard to convince myself not to have these feelings,” she recalls, “that I went to the Bible looking for confirmation that it was wrong. And what I found was the exact opposite: support for cousin marriages.” The patriarch Jacob married two of his first cousins, Rachel and Leah; Isaac and Rebekah were first cousins once removed. (The Roman Catholic Church has opposed cousin marriages for more than a millennium but gives dispensation to couples considered worthy.) Smith married Mark in 1999; this year she founded a group called cuddle–Cousins United to Defeat Discriminating Laws through Education. As for Paul and Donna Gonzalez, they are doing fine. Their son, 9, and daughter, 8, are well adjusted and academically gifted. Still, the parents are protective of their family secret. (They declined to have their real names used for this story.) “When our kids started school here,” says Donna, “I told them, ‘You don’t have to hide this from anyone. But you don’t need to go advertising it.’” The medical ban is lifted; the social stain may take longer to disappear.Reported by Amanda Bower and Andrea Dorfman/New York
Diamonds Are Made Under Pressure
[This message has been edited by Fatimah (edited April 13, 2002).]
I am engaged to my cousin, its allowed in Islam and I dont think there is anything worng with it.
In my opionion.. i personally would never have one..