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[Opinions] Re: Extra interesting story (WARNING: Tragic/disturbing)
in reply to a message by Array
Wow, that is tragic and sad. Barry and Gary remind me of some family friends that we have whose adult children are named Gary, Jerry, Terri (Teresa) & Steve (Steven). Poor Steve!We have quite a few skeletons in our family closet, a main one being that one of my cousins is the product of two first cousins. But hey, we do live in the South! :b
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As a Jewish girl, I find first cousin marriages totally common :)
In my country (France), some categories of people do it too: peasants, aristocrats, some bourgeois families, very observant Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus. :)
~~ Claire ~~
My dear ! are Alia, Eidel, Enola, Israel, Dudel, Yuri, Lina, Lorelei, Leilani, Owen and Julian.
My dear ? are Hillel, Meshullam, Johnny, Ginny and Cordelia.
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Cousins....I guess it's just more of a taboo in the U.S. (present day, though it used to be more acceptable) and other places. I did leave out a bit, though. The bigger issue, rather than my cousin being the product of 2 first cousins, is that he hasn't been told this. He believes his mother's husband is his biological father. And my cousin is 33 years old. I found out purely by accident, and I'm only one of a handful of people that know. My cousin is also a little "odd" looking (and it is proven that first cousins and other close relatives producing children can lead to mental and physical abnormalities/disabilities)--he's extremely skinny without trying to be and 6'9". But fortunately he wasn't affected mentally, he's actually extremely intelligent. He's actually close to his "cousin" (his biological father, unbeknownst to him) and that cousin's son, who is just a little younger than him. It's all rather sad and sordid, though none of us in the family look down on him or his mother or anyone in the situation AT ALL. It's just remained a secret for a long time, and at this point, I personally don't think it would help him or anyone else to ever find out the truth. Sorry to ramble on about it. It's not like I ever discuss it with anyone, so it's kind of weird to do so here, but since you guys don't really "know" me then I guess it's ok. lol :b
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CorrectionYou're both right, I'm sorry. I'm a nurse, I DO know these things, just got off track talking about these family issues, I guess. lol First cousins together doesn't CAUSE abnormalities, but can accentuate them if they are there in the first place. Like you said, Claire.
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Oh I see. Yes it sounds weird... It must be a hard situation... I would just like to point that marriage between cousins (or even uncles and nieces, like Jews sometimes do) don't creat abnormalities in themselves, but emphasize every characteristic, good or bad, as the generations "go on". Take a family with bad hair and nice eyes, make them intermarry, and some generations later you have a family of people with very bad hair and very nice eyes. That's why I think cousins marriage is only harmful if there is a known hereditary defect in the family. I'm the living proof that, apart from this case, it's no problem lol :)
~~ Claire ~~
My dear ! are Alia, Eidel, Enola, Israel, Dudel, Yuri, Lina, Lorelei, Leilani, Owen and Julian.
My dear ? are Hillel, Meshullam, Johnny, Ginny and Cordelia.
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First-cousin intermarriage was banned in England for a long time (I don't know when exactly though - should look that up!) so it tends to be more taboo in English and English-based societies (it's somewhat taboo in Australia too).
ChrisellAll we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. - J.R.R. Tolkien.

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Wow! I have cousins in England, and I'm sure some of them must be married with first cousins... I wonder what they do... Maybe they only get a religious marriage?
~~ Claire ~~
My dear ! are Alia, Eidel, Enola, Israel, Dudel, Yuri, Lina, Lorelei, Leilani, Owen and Julian.
My dear ? are Hillel, Meshullam, Johnny, Ginny, Cordelia, Fiammetta and Yocheved.
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this should be under Miranda's post lolI'm happy to see someone informed :). A girl on another board asked me if there were some babies born with two heads in my family LOL
~~ Claire ~~
My dear ! are Alia, Eidel, Enola, Israel, Dudel, Yuri, Lina, Lorelei, Leilani, Owen and Julian.
My dear ? are Hillel, Meshullam, Johnny, Ginny, Cordelia, Fiammetta and Yocheved.

This message was edited 5/17/2005, 4:38 PM

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Ditto. Genetically, cousin-inbreeding isn't a usually a problem.
Miranda
Image hosted by Photobucket.comProud adopter of 15 PPs. See my profile for their names.
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