marriages between first cousins is not unknown and it often takes place between consenting adults to prevent the many genetic disorders such unions can cause counseling is essential a very controversial report on britains first asian woman to receive a peerage baroness flather appears in the press in it she claims that couples should have their dna tested before marriage to ensure that they are not cousins flather states that this practice is rampant among pakistanis from pakistan occupied kashmir and in an opinion piece for the daily mail warns of the tragic consequence of causing disproportionately high rates of disability among their offspring because of the far greater risks of genetic disorders baroness williams a former secretary of state for education and science and member of the house of lords has said marriage between first cousins is against the law and the church does not condone themi pause to think is williams referring to religious laws of the church or law of the country i cannot understand what the law will do if both parties are consenting to be fair it must be pointed out to such consenting couples the dangers of such union by genetic counseling it is uncommon in parts of the world to marry your own cousin although i know several people married to their first cousin mating of such close relatives can cause genetic defects every one of us carries recessive genes only when this piece of genetic material comes across another piece like this does a trait or gene become manifest this is natures way of limiting birth defects consanguinity or inbreeding is certainly not the recommended thing to do marriage between first cousins who share a set of grandparents and the chance that an inherited piece of genetic material is one in eight in many parts of the world such marriages are not legal in such marriages the risk of a disorder is 17 to 28 per cent the highest rate of consanguinity is in north africa the middle east and south asia according to the european journal of human genetics usually the understanding that such a union entails a genetic risk is low in these marriages and it is imperative that the couples be informed as to the hazards in a situation where such a marriage takes place by choice there is little one can do besides counseling a study from brazil tells us that people with major compatibility complexes which are diverse tend to choose each other simply put they tend to choose mates that are different to them genetically this is an evolutionary strategy and ensures healthy reproduction different genetic backgrounds identified in many animal and human species by mating shows preferences for particular kinds of body odor which is why a person can detect sexual interest from another by proximity hence the commonlyheard teenagers boast i get the vibes from her consanguinity was practiced by royaltyspain reached its height of power under habsburg rule and to maintain this