Quote:
Originally Posted by Dengar
Having relationships with cousins is generally frowned upon though. It doesn't usually make for the strongest offspring.
In other circles, marrying cousins is the norm.
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Just another common misconception/myth, statistically, offsprings from pairing of 1st cousins is only a percentage point or two more likely to have genetic defects than random pairings in the general population. To put that into perspective, that's about the same as women having kids at 40, and that's not even going into other factors such as medical conditions, ethnicity etc.
In short, the so-called genetic problem with 1st cousin pairings are severely overblown.
As far as whether it's socially acceptable, that depends on where you live. But again, to put things into perspective, the US is the only western country that has laws restricting 1st cousin marriages, and even then it's still legal in half of the states.
It really isn't as rare as some people think.