EDITORIAL – Family reunions, weddings look the same

First cousins should love each other. But should they be allowed to marry?

When Donald W…. First cousins should love each other. But should they be allowed to marry?

When Donald W. Andrews Sr. discovered that the love he felt for his first cousin Eleanore Amrhein had grown to be more than a childhood crush over the years, the two decided to get married. But in Pennsylvania, as is the case in 23 other states, marriage between first cousins is illegal.

So last month, they tied the knot in Maryland — one of the 26 states, along with the District of Columbia, that allows first cousins to lawfully wed. Of those states, five have requirements aimed at preventing reproduction, and one state requires that the married cousins receive genetic counseling.

According to Martin Ottenheimer, Kansas State University anthropology professor and author of the book “Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage,” opposition to the practice developed in the 19th century, long before the development of modern genetics. Resistance is therefore based on misguided evolutionary theory.

Robin Bennett, associate director of the medical genetics clinic at the University of Washington, calls laws banning the marriage of first cousins “a form of genetic discrimination.” Bennett, the lead author of a 2002 study on the risks of genetic problems in children born in such marriages, found that birth defects might not happen at the levels they were previously thought to occur.

An unrelated couple has an approximate 3 percent to 4 percent chance of having a child with a birth defect, significant mental retardation or serious genetic disease. Close cousins face an additional risk ranging from 1.7 percent to 2.8 percent, according to the study funded by the National Society of Genetic Counselors and the U.S. Department of Health.

The added risk is relatively low, and there are many genetic defects that any adult may have. Genetic counseling should be sought out regardless of the couple’s relation. It’s just a safer way to start a family. The commercials are true: There is beauty in knowing.

Despite the obvious American taboo on first cousin marriages, the practice, which is legal in both Canada and Europe, is worth it for the Andrews. Donald Andrews said he and his wife’s loving relationship “will survive anything else that comes up against it.”

There are advantages to keeping it in the family. Forget arguments about which family to visit during the holiday season. Gone are the days of petty family disputes about which side the baby looks like. Divorce could be an ugly, all-family inclusive war, but the chances of cousins legally separating as husband and wife after a lifetime of familial bonding doesn’t seem too likely.

If the only reason Americans are so turned off by the idea is an outdated myth, we now have modern genetics to give us the facts.

But let’s draw the line there. There hasn’t been any medical discovery that the children of siblings would not be at greater risk for birth defects. Besides, Jerry Springer just isn’t popular enough to keep incest trendy.