Cousin marriages in Pakistan need to stop

For financial and / or social gains, cousin marriages are extremely common in Pakistan.  Every human being has hidden genetic mutations within the cells of their body. This applies to males and females. In a cousin marriage, these hidden genetic mutations may become dominate and affect the children.

Besides lysosomal storage disorder, there is Downs syndrome, blindness, deafness, heart disorders, and a whole assortment of neurological - degenerative conditions that come from inbreeding. According to the third link, in 2014,  82.5 % of all Pakistani parents are blood relatives. This is first, second and third generation relatives marrying each other.

It may be culturally acceptable and easier. Travel to look for a husband or wife for your child is a pain and expensive. Start to look at it from a new perspective. Think of it as a labor of love. Your children and grandchildren are the people who continue your blood line. Inbreeding causes bad genes to become dominate in the bloodline. Children are born with horrible birth defects because of this. Most can not reproduce. Those with defects pass it to their children.

There is a simple way to avoid this. Have a big family or clan reunion. Invite everyone. Make note of their names. Ask everyone present about those who have not shown up. Make note of their names. Do not allow your son or daughter to marry anyone you have made note of.  Bringing in people of different unrelated blood lines will have a positive effect with time. These bad dominate genes will have a chance to become hidden again with grace of God.

I watched news feeds and read information from the following links before blogging.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cousin_marriage

https://tribune.com.pk/story/705835/the-buzz-cousin-marriages-in-pakistan/

https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Cousin_Marriage_in_Islam

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/884388/cousin-marriages-in-pakistan-triggers-disorder

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/children/11723308/First-cousin-marriages-in-Pakistani-communities-leading-to-appalling-disabilities-among-children.html

https://www.dawn.com/news/1212811

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysosomal_storage_disease























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