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    Fury as NHS tells midwives to back cousin marriage as 'only' 15 per cent have deformed babies
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    Fury as NHS tells midwives to back cousin marriage as ‘only’ 15 per cent have deformed babies

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    30 Comments

    1. chase___it on

      what exactly are these supposed benefits? the article doesn’t mention anything that couldn’t be gained from marrying someone you’re not related to, and then not having the chance of disabled children.

    2. BobMonkhaus on

      “And marrying a relative – fairly common in the Pakistani community – can offer ‘economic benefits’ as well as ’emotional and social connections’ and ‘social capital’, the document says.

      It adds that staff should not ‘stigmatise’ predominantly South Asian or Muslim patients who have a baby with their cousin, because the practice is ‘perfectly normal’ in some cultures.”

      Yeah don’t think of the quality of life the kids will have, focus on the social capital the cousin fuckers will get.

    4. itditburdsshit on

      If anyone goes to a NHS hospital for baby scans and it is established the parents are cousins, there should be an automatic opt out for any NHS treatment relating to abnormalities/deformities from incest for life if the parents wish to continue with the pregnancy.

    8. Due_Ad_3200 on

      > The document, used as training for midwives, states that ‘discouraging cousin marriage is inappropriate’ and would be ‘alienating and ineffective’.

      It is probably true in regards to the bit about effectiveness. I don’t think people are going to a midwife to decide who they should marry. That decision has already been made before midwives are involved.

    9. AwarenessWilling5435 on

      The stock images on these articles are always so funny. This is the first one I’ve seen that shows a traditionally not Western couple so fair play. 

      Call me racist but dont fuck your cousins. 

    11. mostlymildlyconfused on

      If you marry your cousin and have an abnormal child as a result of the union, is the rest of the country liable for the lifelong care of the poor offspring you so stupidly brought into the world?

    12. Impressiveusername39 on

      I mean, how many of those cousin marriages are truly voluntary? Those countries aren’t exactly beacons of human rights, particularly with respect to women and children.

    13. TheChaoticCrusader on

      This is a really stupid reason to back this . If Anything if I was told a good 1/6 roughly kids we’re gonna be deformed because of this id vote right against it . It’s not fair on the kids who have to be born like this . Are we really going backwards as a society ? Did we learn nothing from the royals who did this constantly and some of the deforms and horrid lives they had because of it? And who’s going to pay for this child’s bill oh right the everlasting pocket of the tax payer .  15% is such a high chance it should not be pushed at all 

    14. sober_disposition on

      It is really annoying to see this kind of prevaricating that is intended to avoid offending astronomically entitled and over-sensitive people.

      Just take a clear and consistent position – cousin marriage is wrong. It is immoral and irresponsible. It is a crime against society and people who do it knowingly should be punished.

    15. millerz72 on

      Yes people shouldn’t marry their cousins; but let’s not twist this into something it isn’t.

      This refers to a blog post from [September](https://www.bmj.com/content/391/bmj.r2061) which was pulled almost immediately. It was never intended intended and never had constituted official healthcare policy.

    16. Socialistinoneroom on

      The Daily Mail headline is doing what it always does: mixing a real issue with sensational framing..

      What this was about wasn’t the NHS saying cousin marriage is safe or a good idea. It was training guidance for midwives on how to talk to families where it already happens, because going in judgement-first can mean people disengage from healthcare altogether.

      The genetic risk is real and well-established. First-cousin couples have a higher risk of recessive genetic disorders in children. But it’s usually described as an increase in absolute risk (roughly from ~2–3% to ~4–6%), not the “most babies are deformed” implication you get from tabloid headlines. Repeated cousin marriage over generations raises the risk further, which is why genetic counselling matters.

      The problem is the NHS guidance was poorly worded and came across as minimising that risk, which is why it was criticised and then pulled. That’s fair criticism. But that’s very different from the idea that the NHS was “promoting” cousin marriage.

      This is basically a case of:

      clumsy guidance

      legitimate scientific risk

      and a headline designed to make it sound far more extreme than it actually was

      Which, unfortunately, is pretty standard Daily Mail territory.

    17. most_crispy_owl on

      I sometimes wonder what would happen if a political party followed Trump and just quit offering visas to countries that do this kind of thing

    18. Bigtallanddopey on

      Only 15%? I am pretty sure that if me and my wife were told prior to getting pregnant, that there was a 15% chance of the baby being deformed, we would have seriously thought about having a kid. 15% is a large number.

    19. trev2234 on

      A friend worked on a ward with children born with various genetic disorders. He said 95% of the parents were cousins.

    20. SavingsSquare2649 on

      Is the benefit just that you won’t get a contingent of the population protesting against the decision?

    21. nellion91 on

      I note that there is no link to an official nhs guidance anywhere in the article.

      The first “link” redirects nowhere. I’d like to see what is the official document as the Daily mail has lied multiple times on multiple topics

    22. recursant on

      Midwives are primarily dealing with people who are already pregnant, so I could understand the NHS telling them not to comment on the issue. If a woman is already carrying her first cousin’s baby, there isn’t a lot of point in the midwives giving them a hard time about it, that isn’t their job.

      But for the NHS to be coming up with a list of excuses as to why first cousin marriages might actually be quite a good thing if you think about it in a particular way … wtf?

    23. abz_eng on

      Iceland has an App to prevent close relatives from procreating – as they are worried that their small society might have people meeting who do not know how close a relative they are!

      And here we’re expected to bow to *culture* – The Hapsburgs of Spain had their version that ended up with [Charles II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_II_of_Spain)

    24. giblets46 on

      There are numerous benefits to the mother of entering sanguinous relationships too…. Like not disappearing

    27. Ok-Chest-7932 on

      15% deformed is a crazy high rate too. That’s not first time incest levels, that’s multigenerational incest. It is true that the risks of cousin marriage are overblown – if you really do have to marry your cousin and your family doesnt have a history of genetic disorder or incest, chances are very high that nothing bad will happen genetically.

      The problem we’re dealing with is clans that have massively amplified their rates of genetic problems through generations of incest, and a blanket ban on all close family marriages nips this in the bud. And I’m sorry but anyone who has a really hot cousin will just have to take one for the team here and not marry them. Maybe meet up with other people who have hot cousins and do a swap.

    28. Taken_Abroad_Book on

      Going to need a source that the entire NHS is doing this. Because it smells like 1 band 7 in one trust said it

    29. waterswims on

      I don’t really understand what either side is after on this.

      We are talking about midwives. They only get involved after you are pregnant. I don’t know that midwives need to comment either way on how your unborn baby came to be.

      If it’s someone seeking advice on getting pregnant then maybe they should have advice, but once the horse has bolted?

    30. Narrow_Maximum7 on

      So we are going to tell women that drinking, drugs, eating poorly anf smoking is all good too.
      Keeps mums happy, so better for mental health.
      Cheap fags are cheaper than nicorettes, saves money.
      If only 10-20% end up sick then thats an acceptable level.