UK health agency cites ‘benefits’ of first-cousin marriage in bizarre report, unsurprisingly sparks outrage

A major health authority has pulled its recent report citing the “benefits” of first-cousin marriage after it sparked widespread outrage.

The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) came under fire after publishing guidance that experts claim “promoted” inter-family unions, despite well-documented concerns about the increased risk of birth defects.

Research cited in the article, titled “Should the UK government ban first-cousin marriage?”, described “various potential benefits” of marrying a first cousin, “including stronger extended family support systems and economic advantages,” the Telegraph reported.

But many were quick to point out the report, published by the NHS England’s Genomics Education Programme last week, failed to properly assess the risks associated with having children with a “once removed” relative.

First cousins are determined as a relative who is the child of a parent’s sibling. They also share a set of grandparents.

In Australia, marrying a cousin is generally legal under the federal Marriage Act 1961, as there are no specific prohibitions against it.

The UK, and other countries across Europe, take a similar legal stance, though the act is becoming increasingly scrutinized, particularly by doctors, who warn that children of first cousins are more likely to experience an array of health problems, the BBC reports.

In every pregnancy, there is a two to three percent risk that a child, from two unrelated people, will have a birth defect or disability.

However, this risk will double to about five to six percent when the parents are first cousins.

In Western countries, the practice is now widely deemed taboo, but in other cultures, such as the Middle East, Africa and Asia, it is still a common occurrence.

Cultures that practice and encourage first-cousin relationships have also been linked to the oppression of women.

In the since-deleted NHS article, it was explained that first-cousin marriages have been legal in the UK since the 1500s, when King Henry VIII married Catherine Howard, his ex-wife’s cousin.

It also noted that inter-family marriages have “long been the subject of scientific discussion” due to the increased risk of inherited diseases, and discussed other external factors like alcohol use during pregnancy, smoking and the age of the parents.

The report pointed out that “none of [these factors] are banned in the UK”, Fox News reported.

Dr Patrick Nash, an expert on religious law and director of the Pharos Foundation social science research group in Oxford, called the guidance “truly dismaying”.

“Cousin marriage is incest, plain and simple, and needs to be banned with the utmost urgency – there is no ‘balance’ to be struck between this cultural lifestyle choice and the severe public health implications it incurs,” he told The Telegraph.

“This official article is deeply misleading and should be retracted with an apology so that the public is not misled by omission and half-truths.”

The NHS has since removed the report from its website in response to the backlash after earlier defending the research.

“The article published on the website of the Genomics Education Programme is a summary of existing scientific research and the public policy debate,” a spokesperson for the national health authority said.

“It is not expressing an NHS view.”

It is estimated that more than 10 percent of all marriages worldwide are between first or second cousins, though stats are difficult to accurately record, since such marriages have long been an underground phenomenon, largely do to incest-related stigma.

A US state recently enforced new rules on first-cousin marriage in light of changing attitudes.

From October 1, Connecticut has banned knowingly marrying a first cousin, according to the US Sun.

Currently, 24 US states prohibit it, and 8 states (Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Minnesota, Tennessee, Utah, Wisconsin) allow it only under specific conditions.

Norway banned cousin marriages in 2023 and a planned ban is set to take place in Sweden from mid-2026.

There are now similar calls for the UK to follow suit, with the Conservative Party recently proposing a bill that would see an end to cousin marriage, amid growing public health concerns.

However, there are some that argue the legislation would be discriminatory and culturally insensitive, with experts claiming education is a better way of dealing with the “declining trend”, The Guardian reported.

In the midst of the public debate, Faz – a woman from Grimsby in northern England – went public with her relationship with family member Ania, 18.

But the couple have now found themselves at the heart of a barrage of abuse from mean trolls, who have described their story as something from the 1800s, The Sun reported.

Posting on social media, Faz answered a question about how long the pair, whose parents are siblings, had been together.

“Only two months as we had to keep our relationship quiet because we are cousins,” she replied.

Alongside the short clip, Faz later wrote, “as they say, keep it in the family,” and added the hashtag “#Relationshipgoals”.

Social media users were gobsmacked by the fact the couple are related, declaring it “wild” and “shocking” in the comments.