Post your views on cousin relationships

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I'm not certain I have any cousins----I don't see the harm.

Actually, no matter how many kids you have, each would have an equal chance at having genetic problems. Saying you shouldn't have too many so as not to have messed up ones is basing your logic on a gambler's fallacy.

The kids would also probably be more likely to be carriers of disorders in your family. It would also depend on how similar you are to you cousin genetically, since this can vary.

Personally, I'm not taking the risk of genetic defects in potential children of mine at any age, much less take the risk that middle aged couples take... especially with everything I've got wrong with me.

I guess the answer to this question would partly be based on how close your family is... if cousins are people you never really saw growing up and hardly feel like family to them, that's a far cry from... say... hooking up with someone that's practically a sibling to you emotionally.

Cousin marriages used to happen ALL the time. For starters, the bible is filled with it. Isaac married his mother's sister's daughter, iirc. Has anyone read Pride and Prejudice? Elizabeth was proposed to by one of her cousins. It was even encouraged for her to marry him.