cousin couple

A cousin couple is a pair of cousins with a romantic or sexual relationship. Cousin couples are prohibited in certain jurisdictions and cultures because they are considered incestuous; in others, they are encouraged or expected.

History

In earlier times it was relatively common for cousins to marry. Since people tended not to move very far from the place of their birth, the closest eligible spouse would often be a cousin. Marrying cousins was also a way of keeping land and property within a family (endogamy). For instance, in the Middle East and parts of the Mediterranean Basin, there is a saying that "the girl is for her cousin," even among city folk. Traditionally, the extended family plans these arranged marriages.

Cousin couples existed in the Old Testament. Two of the most famous are prominent in Genesis. Isaac was married to Rebekah, his first cousin once removed (Genesis 24:12-14). Rachel and Leah were both cousins of Jacob (Genesis 28-29). The Bible does not define cousin marriages as right or wrong, although it does firmly prohibit sex and marriage between other relatives (incest).^{[citation needed]} The lack of a Biblical prohibition is possibly the result of a concern with the orderly transfer of property and the social importance of kinship and extended family relationships in antiquity.^{[citation needed]}

The 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia refers to a theory by the Anglican bishop of Bath and Wells speculating that Mary and Joseph, (the mother and step-father of Jesus, respectively), were first cousins.^[1]

A large part of the love stories included in the Arabian Nights depict love between first cousins.

Consanguinity

Main article: consanguinity

The percentage of consanguinity between any two individuals decreases fourfold as the most recent common ancestor recedes one generation. For example, first cousins have four times the consanguinity of second cousins. Fourth cousins and beyond share no more consanguinity than any two individuals taken at random, even if there is a documented most recent common ancestor.

In April 2002, the Journal of Genetic Counseling released a report authored by a team of scientists led by Robin L. Bennett, a genetic counselor at the University of Washington and the president of the National Society of Genetic Counselors, which showed that the potential risk of birth defects in a child born of first cousins was slightly higher than the risk associated with a non-cousin couple. The report estimated the increased risk for first cousins at only 1.7 - 2.8 % over the base risk of about 3%, or about the same as that of any woman over age 40, or of a still younger man (see paternal age). Put differently, first-cousin marriages entail roughly the same increased risk of birth defects as a woman faces when she gives birth at age 41 (roughly 6%) rather than at 30 (roughly 3%). Banning first-cousin marriages would make as much sense, critics argue, as trying to ban childbearing by older women. These numbers were reported only for first instances of cousin mating; repeated generations of cousin coupling are thought to increase the risk substantially.^{[citation needed]}

A BBC report^[2], however, found that Pakistanis in Britain, 55% of whom marry a first cousin, are 13 times more likely than the general population to produce children with genetic disorders, and that one in ten children of cousin marriages either dies in infancy or develops a serious disability. Thus Pakistani-Britons, who account for some 3% of all births in the UK, produce "just under a third" of all British children with genetic illnesses.

A second-cousin mating entails an additional risk of birth defects that many authorities assess at about 1 in 100 — the same risk as that of a woman producing offspring at age 35 or, again, that of an even younger man.

Famous cousin couples

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with List of coupled cousins. (Discuss)

Some cousins who have married:

Royalty

Alexandra Fyodorovna of Hesse and her second cousin Nicholas II of Russia
Princess Irene of Hesse and the Rhine and her first cousin Henry of Prussia
Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh and her first cousin Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse
Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh and her first cousin Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich of Russia
Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine and her first cousin once removed, Prince Louis of Battenberg
King William III of England and his first cousin, Queen Mary II
King George I of Great Britain and his first cousin, Sophia Dorothea of Celle
King George IV of the United Kingdom and his first cousin, Caroline of Brunswick
Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her first cousin, Prince Albert
Princess Mary of Teck (later Queen Mary) and her second cousin once removed King George V
Prince Alexander of Teck and his second cousin once removed, Princess Alice of Albany
Prince Arthur of Connaught and his first cousin once removed, Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife
Catherine the Great and her second cousin Peter III of Russia
Constantine II of Greece and his third cousin, Queen Anne-Marie of Greece
King Olav V of Norway and his first cousin Princess Märtha of Sweden
King Haakon VII of Norway and his first cousin Princess Maud of Wales
King Louis XIV of France and his double first cousin Maria Theresa of Spain
Napoleon Louis Bonaparte and his first cousin Charlotte Napoléone Bonaparte
Queen Elizabeth II (granddaughter of King George V and Queen Mary) and her second cousin once removed (through Christian IX of Denmark), as well as third cousin (through Queen Victoria), Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
Michael I of Romania and his second cousin once removed Princess Anne of Parma
Charles I of Spain and his first cousin Isabella of Portugal
Charles IV of Spain and his first cousin Maria Luisa of Parma
Ferdinand VII of Spain and his first cousin Maria Antonietta of Naples
Alfonso XII of Spain and his first cousin Mercedes of Orléans
Juan Carlos I of Spain and his third cousin Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark
Victor Emmanuel II of Italy and his first cousin Maria Adelaide of Austria
Umberto I of Italy and his first cousin Margherita of Savoy
Isabella of Castile and her first cousin Ferdinand of Aragon
Marie Antoinette and her second cousin Louis XVI of France

The given royal couples are a minute fraction of the cousins of varying degrees who have married among Europe's royal and noble dynasties.

Others

John Adams and his third cousin, Abigail Smith
Josiah Bartlett, second signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, and his first cousin Mary Bartlett
Johann Sebastian Bach and his second cousin, Maria Barbara Bach
Charles Bulfinch and his first cousin, Hannah Apthorp
John C. Calhoun, seventh Vice President of the United States, and his first cousin once removed, Floride Calhoun
Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the only Roman Catholic signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, and his second cousin, Mary Darnall
Charles Darwin and his first cousin, Emma Wedgwood
William Crowninshield Endicott and his first cousin, Ellen Peabody
Albert Einstein and his first cousin (through his mother) as well as second cousin (through his father), Elsa Löwenthal née Einstein
William Ellery, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and his first cousin once removed, Abigail Cary
Carlo Gambino and his first cousin Catherine Castellano
Charlotte Perkins Gilman and her first cousin, George Houghton Gilman
Rudy Giuliani and his second cousin once removed, Regina Peruggi
Edvard Grieg and his first cousin Nina Hagerup
Abdullah Gül, President of Turkey, and his first cousin Hayrünnisa Özyurt
Benjamin Harrison V and his second cousin, Elizabeth Bassett
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. and his second cousin, Amelia Lee Jackson
Stephen Hopkins, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and his second cousin
Jesse James and his first cousin, Zerelda "Zee" Mimms
Thomas Jefferson and his third cousin, Martha Wayles
Nobusuke Kishi and his first cousin, Yoshiko Kishi
Jerry Lee Lewis and his first cousin once removed, Myra Gale Brown
Abbott Lawrence Lowell and his half third cousin, Anna Parker Lowell
John A. Macdonald and his first cousin, Isabella Clark
Thomas Malthus and his first cousin once removed, Harriet Eckersall
Francis Marion, the "Swamp Fox," and his first cousin, Mary Esther Videau
Samuel Eliot Morison and his first cousin once removed, Agnes Priscilla Randolph Barton
Samuel F. B. Morse and his first cousin once removed, Sarah Elizabeth Griswold
Edgar Allan Poe and his first cousin, Virginia Clemm
Muhammed and cousin Zaynab bint Jahsh
Sergei Rachmaninoff and his cousin Natalie Satina
Franklin D. Roosevelt and his fifth cousin once removed, Anna Eleanor Roosevelt
Eisaku Sato and his first cousin, Hiroko Sato
Igor Stravinsky and his cousin Katerina Nossenko
Martin Van Buren and his first cousin once removed, Hannah Hoes
H.G. Wells and his first cousin Isabel Mary Wells
William Whipple, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and his first cousin Catherine Moffatt

Notes

^ CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Heli (Eli). Retrieved on 2007-06-06.
^ Rowlatt, J, (2005) "The risks of cousin marriage", BBC Newsnight. Accessed January 28, 2007

External links

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