First Cousins Marry In Maryland - uh oh

[matcom]

<snip>

ALTOONA, Pa. -- First cousins who were denied a marriage license by county officials in Pennsylvania earlier this month have been married in Maryland.

"Tonight Show" host Jay Leno and conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh both commented about the story after the judge refused to marry 46-year-old Eleanor Amrhein and 39-year-old Donald Andrews Sr.

The couple's mothers are sisters, but they hoped the judge would grant an exception to the Pennsylvania law.

The law was meant to prevent birth defects and other problems caused by intermarriage.

The couple told the judge they didn't plan to have children, but the judge wouldn't budge.

The couple then traveled to Maryland, where first cousins are allowed to marry.

http://www.wftv.com/family/4326779/detail.html

[underpants]

1. And all these years all those West Virginia and Kentucky jokes

DAMN! Maryland?

[davidinalameda]

8. in California you can marry your first counsin

but not in West Virginia

[CatWoman]

2. Ouch

I hope and pray they don't have children.

This guy is the result of constant inbreeding: http://www.xs4all.nl/~kvenjb/madmonarchs/carlos2/carlos2_bio.htm

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

5. so is this guy

[CatWoman]

14. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

:rofl:

I was looking for the right opportunity to use that smilie :D

[rock]

28. Are you sure?

I thought he was a product of that doctor and his patient http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x2940548

[lenidog]

6. They were beyond inbreeding

WIth the Hapsburgs of Spain the terms incest and inbreeding were pale reflections of what actually happened.

[demnan]

11. Interesting

I've seen pictures in books of Carlos with those teeth that didn't meet.

Well Maryland has a mountainous area - that might explain the fact that they have this law.

[lenidog]

13. What you were seeing was the infamous Hapsburg jaw

It actually got worse in some of the family. Also because of the jaw the Hapsburgs spoke with a lisp and because the king spoke that way everyone else did. That is why Castillian Spanish today is spoken with a lisp.

[Xithras]

30. The odds of birth defects from cousins marrying are vastly overblown

IIRC, the actual numbers are that the odds of a child born from cousins having birth defects are about 5%. Since the odds of a non-related couple having a child with birth defects are about 3% anyway, the difference is minimal. Brother-sister, father-daughter, mother-son incest all have defect rates of about 20% for the first generation.

The problem really arises when it happens several generations in a row. The odds of mutation pretty much double every generation, so the son and daughter resulting from an incestuous relationship would have a 40% chance of having a child with birth defects, and their children would have an 80% chance.

It basically has to do with recycling recessive mutations until they become dominant...a mutated gene that would have been supressed by a normal one in a typical relationship is far more likely to activate in an incestuous relationship because it's being received from both parents. That's much less likely to happen with cousins because outside DNA has already been introduced into their genes, and any family mutations were likely to have been supressed by the nonfamilial DNA already.

BTW, I'm not a perv (well, I am, but not this way), I just read a lot :)

[davidinalameda]

3. and now they can move back to Pennsylvania

and enjoy all the benefits of marriage irregarless that their marriage was illegal in the state in the first place

[aeolian]

7. "irregardless" is not a word.

[Xithras]

31. Sure it is

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=irregardless

You might argue that it's an improperly contructed word or that it makes no sense, but it's been in the dictionaries for decades and IS a word.

[trof]

4. Miz t.'s maternal grandparents were 1st cousins.

Louisiana Cajuns.
I bring that up every time she does something a little ditzy.

[Bunny]

9. My maternal great-grandparents were first cousins as well.

My mom feels bad everytime one of us does something especially hare-brained!

[lenidog]

10. I read an article a few months ago about this

is was talking about a medical study that was just completed that basically you have no more chance of having a child with birth defects with your first cousin than with anyone else you would marry.

[aeolian]

15. Wohoo! *moves to Shelbyville*

...obscure Simpsons reference...

[CatWoman]

17. where we can be free to marry our cousins!!!!!!

:D

[aeolian]

19. Look! Someone's attractive cousin!

[CO Liberal]

12. The Princess and I Were Married in Elkton, Maryland in 1993

There's actually a line on our Marriage License that says "Relationship of Bride to Groom (if any)".

[SaveElmer]

16. Myths about this!

First of course, 1st cousins getting married used to be very common in America. My GGG Grandparents were first cousins. This was mainly because of transportation barriers, one had to marry where one lived.

Second, this stuff about inbreeding causing problems is pretty bogus. I've read about this (genealogical studies). It can only cause a problem in those rare cases where both man and woman have a diease that is inherited (such as Huntington's). In general, there is no problem with first cousins having children.

[lenidog]

22. Actually outside of America

its pretty damn common

[AlCzervik]

18. well hey Rudy Guilani was married to his first cousin, why not these folks

[lenidog]

23. So was FDR

[CO Liberal]

25. Close - FDR Married His Second Cousin

[lenidog]

29. That is right. Sorry about that. Still the whole cousin thing even

if they are a second cousins is still rather creepy. My cousin would have to look like Salma Hayak before I would even consider marrying her.

[Crankie Avalon]

20. She's 46 years old...

...so whether on not incest between first cousins will cause birth defects in this case seems like a pretty moot point.

Still creepy, though.

[Guy Fawkes]

21. they should have moved to wisconsin...

We have incest AND cheese!

[ChickMagic]

24. Hey now!

My aunt and uncle were married as first cousins. But then, we're in Texas. My aunt is also my cousin. It messes with my head.

[AgadorSparticus]

26. This freaks me out since the idea of me marrying my first cousin makes me

cringe. Maybe if I had really good looking cousins it'd be different. :evilgrin: just kidding. I thought this concept died out a long time ago but I'm obviously wrong. In fact, my FIL told me this weekend that for muslims, it is tradition to marry their first cousins.

[lenidog]

27. Nope it died out here but in the rest of the world it is still

alive and well. We are more or less one of the few places where it is considered wrong.

[fudge stripe cookays]

32. I actually had a crush...

on my first cousin years ago (we're only four months apart-- both the youngest in much older families)

He's quite the hunk now-- hugely tall like that entire branch of the family, blonde, and has three kids. He lives near Chicago.

FSC

[Tesibria]

33. this is where I grew up :::sigh::

ok -- 1 hour away -- but our eye doctor was in Altoona .. and to us, Altoona was the big city. Tells you about our little town.

I am SO not surprised.

My graduating class had 10 girls. Well. by graduation, I think there were still a couple girls, two wives, and 4 mothers.

And they make fun of West Virginia ..

[Zuni]

34. I found a web site defending 1st cousin marriage

http://www.cousincouples.com/info/facts.shtml

[LynneSin]

35. Hey, don't anyone ever bust on Delaware again

We just don't do that here