Is it legal to marry your first cousin?

Marrying a Cousin

In about half the US states there is no law preventing it.  A handful have some special requirements.  In some countries/states it is illegal.

Notes from FAQ Farmers:

• There are bible verses that describe exactly who not to marry. Leviticus 18: 6-19 If you are a Christian, then these are reason enough. Read the above Biblical verses, and they state how distant a relative should be before considering marriage. If you you do marry your cousin and have children, the possibility for a birth or genetic defect will increase; nevertheless, according to a scientific report, the overall risks are still fairly low.

• In the UK it is currently legal, though there's a chance this could be changed due to how common it is within certain minority communities. However, the increase in risk of birth deformities is really tiny unless the same thing happens repeatedly (i.e. you marry your cousin and then your children marry their cousins, etc): the more times it happens within the same family, the risk will probably increase, but if it's only done once, these risks are much smaller than commonly believed.

• Actually it is not true at all that cousins who have children will have "retarded" children. That is a very American sterotype and for centuries in all other countries it was preferred that cousins marry as to keep families close and to keep money within a family. Having retarded kids is a total myth and ignorant American ideology.

• Actually, if there are any kind of genetic disorders in your family, even many generations ago, you have a good chance of passing that on if you have a child with your first cousin. Most of the boys in European royal families died from hemophilia because of inbreeding.

• Whether it is "right" would be a personal issue and should not be subjected to other people's moral or ethical interpretations. The legal issue is a different matter, there are those states which have specific laws pertaining to such relationships. W/O knowing the state of residency a more specific answer is not possible.

First answer by Bclear. Last edit by Aggie80. Contributor trust: 1449 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 128 [recommend question]

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