Kissing Cousins

Monday March 8, 2004

20/20 did an investigative report on cousins marrying one another. According to the report, cousins are allowed to legally marry in 26 states in the United States.

Additionally, such marriages are more common in European and Middle Eastern countries. "In some Middle Eastern countries, almost half of all marriages are to cousins."

"And consider this — Albert Einstein's parents were cousins, and he married his cousin, too. FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt were cousins, so were Prince Albert and Queen Victoria and former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani was briefly married to a second cousin." Although many people are still concerned about the genetic risks cousin marriages supposedly take, a new study by National Society of Genetic Counselors states that the genetic risks are much less than previously thought.