A cousin couple is a pair of cousins who are involved in a romantic or sexual relationship.

[edit] Genetic aspects

In April 2002, the Journal of Genetic Counseling released a report 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 1.7-2.8% over the base risk of about 3%, or about the same as that of any woman over age 40. ^[1] 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%). Critics argue that banning first-cousin marriages would make as much sense as trying to ban childbearing by older women. These numbers were reported only for first instances of cousin mating; repeated generations of cousin coupling can increase this risk, especially if the original ancestors were carriers of deleterious recessive genes (a founder effect).^[2]

[edit] See also

• List of coupled cousins
• Cousin marriage
• Consanguinity
• Genealogy
• Genetic sexual attraction
• Imprinting (psychology)
• Inbreeding
• Pedigree collapse
• Prohibited degree of kinship
• Types of marriage

[edit] Notes