A cousin couple is a pair of cousins who are involved in a romantic or sexual relationship. cousin in Kinship terminology is a relative with whom one shares a common Ancestor, but in modern usage the term is rarely used when referring to a NOTICE TO WOULD-BE-ROMEOS*************** Generally speaking human sexuality is how people experience and express themselves as sexual beings In some jurisdictions and cultures, cousins are prohibited from marrying each other because that is considered incestuous. In Law, jurisdiction (from the Latin ius iuris meaning "law" and dicere meaning "to speak" is the practical Authority Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate" generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic The prohibited degree of kinship refers to a degree of Consanguinity (relatedness below which sexual interrelationships are regarded as Incestuous Inbreeding Incest refers to any sexual activity between closely related persons (often within the immediate family that is illegal or socially Taboo. In other settings, such marriages may be accepted or encouraged.

Contents 1 History 2 Consanguinity 3 Famous cousin couples 4 See also 5 Notes 6 External links

History

In earlier times, it was relatively common for cousins to marry each other. Since people tended not to move far from their place of birth, the closest eligible spouse was often a cousin. Marrying a cousin was also a way of keeping land and property in the family (endogamy). Endogamy is the practice of marrying within a social group. Cultures who practice endogamy require marriage between specified social groups classes or ethnicities In the Middle East and parts of the Mediterranean Basin, even among city folk, there is a saying that "the girl is for her cousin. The Middle East is a Subcontinent with no clear boundaries often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. " Traditionally, such arranged marriages are facilitated by the extended family. Arranged marriage (also called prearranged marriage) is a Marriage arranged by someone other than the persons getting married curtailing or avoiding the process Extended family (or Joint family) is a term with several distinct meanings

Cousin couples existed in the Old Testament. In Western Christianity, the Old Testament refers to the books that form the first of the two-part Christian Biblical canon. Two of the most famous are prominent in Genesis. Isaac was married to Rebekah, his first cousin once removed (Genesis 24:12-14). According to the Hebrew Bible, Isaac ( Hebrew: Yitzchak יִצְחָק, Standard Yiẓḥaq This article is about the biblical matriarch For other uses of the word Rebecca see Rebecca (disambiguation Rebecca (also Rebekah also Rachel and Leah were both cousins of Jacob (Genesis 28-29). Rachel (; meaning "ewe" is the second and favorite Wife of Jacob and mother of Joseph and Benjamin, first mentioned in the Leah ( "Weary tired" is the first of the four concurrent wives of the Hebrew patriarch Jacob, and mother of six of the Twelve Tribes of Israel along Jacob ( Hebrew: יַעֲקֹב, Standard   Yaʿaqov Tiberian   Yaʿăqōḇ; The Bible does not define cousin marriages as right or wrong, although it does firmly prohibit sex and marriage between other closer relatives, incest (Leviticus 18:6-18). Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin Incest refers to any sexual activity between closely related persons (often within the immediate family that is illegal or socially Taboo.

The 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia refers to a theory by the Anglican bishop of Bath and Wells speculating that Mary and Joseph, the mother and father of Jesus, were first cousins. The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to today as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language Encyclopedia published by The Encyclopedia Anglicanism is a tradition of Christian faith Churches in this tradition either have historical connections to the Church of England or have similar beliefs The Bishop of Bath and Wells heads the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells in the Province of Canterbury in England. Joseph "of the House of David " ( Hebrew יוֹסֵף also known as Saint Joseph, Joseph the Betrothed, Joseph of Nazareth Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC / BCE —26–36 AD / CE) ^[1]

A large part of the love stories included in the Arabian Nights depict love between first cousins.

Consanguinity

Main article: consanguinity

The percentage of consanguinity between any two individuals decreases fourfold as the most recent common ancestor recedes one generation. Consanguinity (" con- (with sanguine (blood -ity" refers to the property of being from the same Lineage as another person Consanguinity (" con- (with sanguine (blood -ity" refers to the property of being from the same Lineage as another person In Genetics, the most recent common ancestor ( MRCA) of any set of Organisms is the most recent individual from which all organisms in the group are directly For example, first cousins have four times the consanguinity of second cousins. Fourth cousins and beyond share no more consanguinity than any two individuals taken at random, even if there is a documented most recent common ancestor.

In April 2002, the Journal of Genetic Counseling released a report authored by a team of scientists led by Robin L. Bennett, a genetic counselor at the University of Washington and the president of the National Society of Genetic Counselors, 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. Genetic counseling is the process by which patients or relatives at risk of an inherited disorder are advised of the consequences and nature of the disorder the probability of developing See Washington (disambiguation for other uses The University of Washington, founded in 1861, is a public research University A congenital disorder is a disease or disorder that is present at birth 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, or of a still younger man (see paternal age). The paternal age effect describes the influence that a father's age has on the chances of conferring a Genetic defect to his offspring 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 are thought to increase the risk substantially.

A BBC report^[2] found that Pakistanis in Britain, 55% of whom marry a first cousin, are 13 times more likely than the general population to produce children with genetic disorders, and that one in ten children of cousin marriages either die in infancy or develop a serious disability. British Asians are British citizens who are immigrants or descendants of immigrants from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka A genetic disorder is a condition caused by abnormalities in Genes or Chromosomes While some diseases such as Cancer, are due to genetic abnormalities acquired Thus Pakistani-Britons, who account for some 3% of all births in the UK, produce "just under a third" of all British children with genetic illnesses.

A second-cousin mating entails an additional risk of birth defects that many authorities assess at about 1 in 100 — the same risk as that of a woman producing offspring at age 35 or, again, that of an even younger man.

Some cultures have an intermarriage taboo on parallel cousins but not on cross cousins. Parallel cousin is an anthropological term denoting consanguinial Kin who are in the same Descent group as the subject and are from the parent's

Famous cousin couples

Main article: List of coupled cousins

See also

• Consanguinity
• Cousin
• Genealogy
• Incest
• Inbreeding
• Prohibited degree of kinship
• Types of marriage
• Imprinting (psychology)
• Genetic sexual attraction

Notes

External links

• Cousin Couples — Support for kissing cousins

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