While it might seem like a taboo topic for many, one major health authority has told its workers to 'stop discouraging' marriage between two first cousins – otherwise known as consanguinity – amid backlash from experts.
There are many things across the world that remain legal despite existing in a moral gray zone, and among these concerns the legitimacy of marriage within a family tree.
It is both shunned and unadvised in many parts of the world both from a moral perspective and a medical one, as not only does it break from societal norms but historically has been understood to increase the risk of 'complications' when it comes to children.
However, healthcare workers in the United Kingdom have now been urged to 'stop discouraging' people from marrying their first cousins in new advice from an NHS board funded by the government, sparking backlash following a page on the health service's backlash.
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As reported by The Telegraph, the advice comes from the National Child Mortality Database (NCMD), which claims it to be 'unacceptable' to discourage martial bonds between cousins completely, arguing that there only possesses a "slightly increased" risk of genetic disorders in children, which works out to roughly around 15 percent.
Shadow Transport Secretary Richard Holden previously introduced proposals to outlaw consanguinity back in 2024, calling the cultural practice that's relatively common among the British-Pakistani community "damaging and oppressive".
Speaking to The Times, Holden argued that "first cousin marriage carries far higher genetic risk, as well as damaging individual liberty and societal cohesion. Pretending otherwise helps no one, least of all the children born with avoidable conditions and those trapped in heavy-handed patriarchal power structures they can't leave for fear of total ostracism."
This follows controversy surrounding a blog post from NHS England, as per The BMJ, which examined the arguments surrounding first cousin marriage, noting that it had "various potential benefits".
The blog post was removed shortly after being shared, with NHS England claiming that it was published by mistake and not intended to be interpreted as policy or advice for medical professionals, yet some experts have argued against the backlash.
One expert, who was quoted within the blog, noted that the contents and points made within the blog post were "extremely uncontentious" and "very substantially factually based," leading many to continue their speculation as to whether the advice is valid — especially considering that the current legal status of marriage between first cousins remains unchanged.