The surprising truth about inbreeding in Britain – and how the NHS says cousin marriage is NO different to women choosing to give birth at 30 ‘because both are risky’

Although incredibly controversial, inbreeding in Britain is probably more common than you think.

An academic study into the extent of ‘extreme’ inbreeding – where a child’s parents are considered first- or second-degree relatives – found that 125 Britons out of a sample of 450,000 were the result of such unions.

First-degree relationships include those between parent and child, while second-degree relationships include more distant but still genetically close relatives, such as half-siblings.

Extrapolated to the wider population, the 2019 study reportedly means around 13,000 Britons were conceived through extreme inbreeding.

The authors noted that given the nature of the subject and the limited variety of Britons in the sample, the actual figures could be significantly higher or lower.

Of the total of 125, approximately 43 percent was attributed to first-degree relationships, those between parents and children.

Some were adopted as children and therefore probably had no idea of ​​their origins.

Incest – sexual intercourse between immediate family members – is illegal in Britain, even if there is mutual consent.

Marriages between certain blood relatives – as well as some step-relationships – are also illegal.

However, in Britain it is legal to marry your cousin.

Cross-cousin marriage – which falls under consanguinity – was once common among Britain’s upper classes, and was historically seen as a way to strengthen alliances and keep wealth and land in the family.

Although it is falling out of fashion, the practice, alongside other arranged marriages, is still common in some British communities.

Experts have previously written about how the preference for cousin marriage among British Pakistanis was a contributing factor in child mortality in Bradford due to an increased risk of genetic conditions.

NHS surveys between 2007 and 2011 found that consanguineous marriages accounted for 60 percent of marriage unions among people of Pakistani origin in Bradford.

This compared to just 1 per cent among white British couples in the area.

Of the marriages of Pakistani origin, 37 percent were to a cousin.

Subsequent NHS surveys, carried out between 2016 and 2020, have found that the rate among that particular community has fallen to around 43 per cent.

The NHS has previously stated that first cousins ​​by marriage are responsible for around a third of birth defects in leaflets distributed to families in Bradford.

Under a system that tracks rates across the area, health chiefs describe cousin marriage as a cultural practice.

The wording, still available online today, states that it is no different to white British people choosing to have children over the age of 34, in terms of increasing a baby’s risk of genetic conditions.

Worldwide, it is believed that one in ten people are the result of a blood relationship.

Estimates on the prevalence of consanguineous marriages around the world vary.

Research shows that Pakistan has one of the highest rates in the world with 65 percent of unions.

This is followed by India (55 percent), Saudi Arabia (50 percent), Afghanistan (40 percent), Iran (30 percent) and Egypt and Turkey (20 percent each).

Other data sets used by genetic experts who study consanguineous marriages estimate that the UK has a rate of 1 to 4 percent, while the US has a lower rate of less than 1 percent.

Data shows that the risk of a child born from a first cousin union developing a genetic condition is between 3 and 6 percent.

This still means that the majority of children born in such circumstances will be healthy, but the increased risk is undeniable. It is about double the risk compared to children of unrelated parents.

Possible conditions include birth defects, developmental delays, and genetic conditions such as blindness, hearing loss, neonatal diabetes, and limb deformities.

The risks generally increase the closer the genetic relationship between the parents, and also if there is a family history of such unions, as genetic errors can worsen between generations.

During conception, children receive one copy of each parent’s genes, with the harmful genetic mutations, known as recessive genes, typically being overwritten by healthier dominant genes.

But when closely related individuals have a child, genetic variations decrease.

This can prevent recessive genes from being overwritten and becoming dominant in a child, causing many types of congenital disabilities.

These can include low IQ, cleft palate, heart disease, cystic fibrosis and an increased risk of infant mortality.

An increased interest and availability of do-it-yourself genealogy kits, which allow people to track their genetic family history, is leading many people to uncover uncomfortable truths about themselves and their relationships.

This has in part led to some people, including in the US, discovering that they are the result of an incestuous union, or in some shocking cases learning that they married or had sex with someone who then turned out to be a close relative to be.

Marriages between cousins ​​were once much more common and included some famous historical figures.

The father of evolution Charles Darwin married his cousin Emma Wedgwood, and famous physicist Albert Einstein married his cousin Elsa Lowenthal.

Authors Edgar Allan Poe and HG Wells were also known to have married their cousins.

The British Royal Family, like many European nobility, also made blood-related commitments.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were cousins ​​and shared grandparents.

In more modern times, former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s first wife was his cousin Sajida Talfah.

Musician Jerry Lee Lewis, of ‘Great Balls of Fire’ fame, controversially married his cousin Myra Gale Lewis Williams when she was just 13, he was 22.