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NHS defends cousin marriages because ‘only 15 percent lead to birth defects’ (www.yahoo.com)
submitted 9 months ago by to c/nottheonion@lemmy.world
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Midwives have been told about the benefits of “close relative marriage” in training documents that minimise the risks to couples’ children.

The documents claim “85 to 90 per cent of cousin couples do not have affected children” and warn staff that “close relative marriage is often stigmatised in England”, adding claims that “the associated genetic risks have been exaggerated”.

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[–] 3 points 9 months ago (2 children)

On the scale of things, I think this rate's a "who the fuck cares?".

I don't really care if cousins get married. I don't really care if they have kids together. I do care if they have birth defects and we should do things medically responsible to reduce or eliminate birth defects, but the whole cousin thing doesn't really bother me as long as there's no external pressure (like British royalty or stereotypical Southern Hicks).

Who is really that bent out of shape on this and why should we care?

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  • [–] 2 points 9 months ago

    I think it's just another dog whistle tbh, like caring about animal welfare when it's Halal, or worrying about parking when a HMO is opened.

    Cousin marriage is a brown person activity, so suddenly pearls are clutched.

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