Can I Marry my First Cousin?
Assalamvalaikum
Can I marry my maternal uncle's daughter. I know it is permitted in Islam but I wanted to know since my parents are also cousins of each other can I marry my cousin?
Are there very high chances of abnormality? It's a family proposal for me; I am also attracted to her, so is she. Their is no problem from both families but I am worried about medical issues which may arise.
adnan00786.
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It depends on what you consider to be a high chance. In the normal population the chance of birth defects is 1% to 2%. In first cousin marriages it goes up to to 5%. That's quite a high rate when you consider that the kinds of defects that manifest are often terrible and life-threatening.
Furthermore, since your parents are first cousins, studies have shown that your risk can go as high as 12%. You are now in an area called inbreeding - successive generations of family marriages - that is scientifically known to cause defects in all populations, human and animal.
For you folks you married your cousins and nothing happened, that's great, Alhamdulillah. But that doesn't mean that the risk is not real. I have a friend who married his first cousin. One of their children is fine, the other is mentally retarded. You never know.
Wael
IslamicAnswers.com Editor
Genetics is a complex thing. You never know what you are going to get child-wise until you get it. There is always a possibility of genetic issues regardless of whether or not parents are related. However, there are some studies that state that blood relationships can increase the likelyhood of inheriting certain disorders. Are there any major genetic disorders currently in your family on your maternal side? Is there a prevalence of breast cancer or ovarian cancer? You could speak to a genetic counselor for an idea of issues that could happen. But any statistics are just that...statistics. There is no guarantee that anything could occur. However, there are some who under go genetic testing when they know certain devastating diseases run in their families such as Tay Sachs. The two of you could be tested for genetic markers that might cause an issue if you want to.
During conception, each parent donates half of their DNA, however the woman donates all of her mitochondrial DNA. mtDNA is passed through the female line. You have mtDNA from your mother, but it is your wife's mtDNA your future children will get. Yours stops with you. Trisomy issues (such as Down's Syndrome) are usually a result of replication issues of mtDNA, and female cancers are usually passed down via mtDNA. I am oversimplfying of course, but sometimes it matters to look at the health of the female line of your future wife. Also, you mentioned that your parents are cousins. Are the parents of your wife cousins as well, or is her mother from a different family?
as-salaam-u-alaikum-wr-wb.. I understand your worries.. as it's something my sister had to consider whilst marrying her first cousin.. *Masha' Allah* she's got three beautiful kids.. & they're all perfectly fine.. so I would suggest that don't let that be a barrier.. do your Istikhara in terms of whether you should marry this girl or not.. If the signs you receive from Allah *swt* are positive.. then go for it!
AoA
same in my family many cousin marriages some perfectly normal some horrible, so please stop putting science aside go ahead get your self tested for genetic disorders then make a decision. dont generalize based on just one example
Theres nothing wrong with it because my cousin married her cousin brother their kids are fine alhumdulilah
Also I married my cousin too and we are fine
if you like her marry her dont let this be a barrier. I agree with Wael and people here are right you dont really know but inshallah it be alright for you both.
1 ) yes it is permissible to marry her , see sura 4 ?23 it list the ppl u can't get married to.
2) but YES You will have a higher chance of Abnormalities
It you can think about it like this , all your genes have 2 parts one from your dad the other from your mom
So lets take a abnormiliy like hemophilia -- a genetic deaseis of the blood
You could get from your mom or dad
a Healthy gene ....... H. Or sick gene............s
But because each person gets one oart from each parent they could be HH , Hs , sH , ss
HH ...... 2 healthy parts then you are healthy
.ss.........2 sick parts so you get sick
Hs , sH ... You would be healthy but u carry the sick gene so your kids can get sick
So lets say u have some type of abnormility gene but u are not sick cause the other part of the gene is healthy
You would look like this Hs , we say that u are a carrier of the sick gene but bacause u also have a heathy part u dont get sick
If you get married to a girl who is different from you so her family does not have the sick gene "s" she is HH
It would look like this
Hs. HH
Dad. Mom
HH. HH. Hs. HH
Child. Child. Child. Child
So your kids would have a 3 out of 4 chance of being healthy HH
And kids would have a 1 out of 4 chance of not being sick but carring the gene sH
And kids would have a 0 out of 4 chance of getting sick
".....................
Now. If you get married to some one in. Your family where each of u are not sick but u carry the sick gene Both Hs
It would look like this.
Hs. .sH
Dad. Mom
HH. Hs. .sH. .ss
Child. Child. Child. Child
So your children have a
1 in 4 chance of being healthy HH
2 out of 4 chance of not being sick but carring the gene sH
And kids would have a 0 out of 4 chance of getting sick
Because your family has already intermarried your kids have an even higher chance of being sick
Now. If you get married to some one in. Your family where each of u are not sick but u carry the sick gene Both Hs
It would look like this.
Actually, if the illness is characterized as homozygous recessive (ss) and each parent was a carrier of this recessive allele (Hs and sH) then probability of the offspring would be as follows:
25% chance offspring is neither sick nor a carrier of the trait (HH)
50% chance offspring is a carrier of the trait (sH/Hs)
25% chance offspring would develop the illness (ss)
So there is a 1 in 4 chance with every pregnancy to have a child with the particular illness.
Hs. .sH
Dad. Mom
HH. Hs. .sH. .ss
Child. Child. Child. Child
So your children have a
1 in 4 chance of being healthy HH
2 out of 4 chance of not being sick but carring the gene sH
And kids would have a 0 out of 4 chance of getting sick
Because your family has already intermarried your kids have an even higher chance of being sic
Correction to above
When u marry your family u have a
1 in 4 chance of being sick. .ss
Not a
0 in 4 chance . That was only when u get married to some one outside your fimilly to someone without the sick gene
I think is ok because my sister marry her first cousin and they have two kids together so far so good alhamdullah.
There are genetic impacts of first cousins who marry though. Though their children may be "fine", they still are at risk carrying multiple copies of a defective gene. The poster here and his cousin whom he hopes to marry might be double first cousins, which means they share more common genes than first cousins. This means that rather than passing two copies of a defective gene to their offspring which is possible in first cousin marriages, there is a possibility they could pass 4 copies of a defective gene to their offspring. This may not impact their child, but it could impact their child's offspring. Something to think about.
There are states in the US which allow first cousin marriages, however double first cousins are prohibited from marrying.
In many articles I've read regarding cousin marriages I've seen this statement: The risks of having a child with your cousin is no greater than the risks that a pregnant 41 year old woman faces.
That gives me pause since a woman pregnant at 41 is in a high-risk category for miscarriage and carrying a child with possible genetic issues.
Salam..........i wants to ask that can i marry with my first cousin???? I heard alot about this that it became lots of problems in future for childern and husband wife tooo. plz clearfiy my concept. I am too much confused in between all these. I love my first cousin.
It is allowed to marry your first cousin, though I do not advise it for health reasons. It's a big world. Look beyond your own family members for a partner.
Wael
IslamicAnswers.com Editor
Before you marry her, I would advise you both to get your DNA tested. Ask the DNA tester to look for any recessive genetic diseases. If both of you are carriers for any of the same genetic diseases, I would advise that you do one of 3 things:
1) Go to a fertility clinic. They will help you make a disease free embryo, then implant the embryo into her body (which will grow a healthy baby)
2) Ask your wife to start on birth control and have no biological children (you can adopt if you wish).
3) Carefully research any diseases you are both carriers of. Prepare for a child with any of those diseases (although there is only a 25% chance that your child will get each disease, it is still important to be prepared.)