I stumbled into this information because I was kinda worked up about the fate of my relationship with a partner I consider ideal to walk down the aisle with..

She is supposed to be somehow related to me even though I can't trace exactly how. (legends have it that her grandmother was married from my Umunna. And I can't even trace how many generations of cousins-ship relationship I have with that family her grandmother mother was coming from). We are supposed to be umunna no matter how many generations that have past.
And so finding this important information below has helped me become more resolute on my decision to hold on to her.
Wanted to share it too cos you never know who maybe going through this dilemma too.

And for those who wants to talk about how it contravenes culture or how western cultures is different from ours, I have this for you. Remember that culture was made for man and not man for culture. Hence culture can be adjusted in cases where there are not harmful consequences. We are supposed to be more informed than our forefathers who founded those cultures

A study finds why marrying a close-but-not-too-close cousin is the right move.


It’s legal in all 50 states to marry a cousin who’s your second cousin or further. But according to a new study out of the University of Iceland in Reykjavik, it’s not just legal, it’s smart. And you’ve got to trust Iceland to really know their cousin marriage stuff; people are at *such* a risk of inbreeding in Iceland that couples check their names in a database before they get married to make sure they’re far enough away from each other genetically.

The researchers found your third or fourth cousin isn’t just safe to marry — they’re your ideal partner. So go start shaking those branches on the other side of the family tree and see what falls out.

Third and fourth cousin marriages are the, quote, “best of both worlds.” They’re breakfast food for dinner. You avoid the inbreeding risks of closer cousins, but your genes are just close enough that they naturally work well together. And as a result, marriages between third and fourth cousins produce more children and grandchildren than other couples.

Also — and we’re going to diverge from the study here and just talk like buddies — once you get to a third or fourth cousin, things get less “creepy” than you’d think. That sounds like a close relative, but it’s really not. A third cousin is someone who only shares great great grandparents with you. It’s the child of one of your parents’ second cousins. (Your fourth cousin only shares your great great great grandparents.)

There’s a good chance you have third and fourth cousins you’ve never even met. (As I’m writing this, I couldn’t name a single one of my third or fourth cousins. Not that I want to marry any of them, I promise; just to illustrate the point.) You may’ve accidentally dated one already. That’s enough distance that the old joke “you’d save money on wedding invites if you married your cousin” barely rings true; the overlap probably isn’t that significant.

That being said, your third or fourth cousins are juuust close enough that dating one will be at least a somewhat rebellious gesture against your parents — it’s “best of both worlds” in that way too.

So it’s settled. We agree you should marry your cousin. Go track down your third or fourth cousin and go out for a cuisine that doesn’t match your heritage (just to avoid potentially awkward conservations about old family recipes).

And finally, here are some notable people who’ve married their third cousins: John Adams… Charles Darwin’s grandparents (and then Darwin married his first cousin)… Queen Elizabeth II… Rudy Giuliani… Thomas Jefferson… Robert E. Lee… and Jerry Lee Lewis. Look, there are some low cards in that deck, but the point stands.

Maybe the person who wrote this practices incest themselves. Why on earth would any normal person date or marry a blood relative, no matter how distant up the family tree it is? Kissing cousins end up giving birth to children with deformities. I can imagine how ideal it must be to welcome a bundle of joy, with all his or her 3 eyes gazing lovingly at you.

XhosaNostra:
Maybe the person who wrote this practices incest themselves. Why on earth would any normal person date or marry a blood relative, no matter how distant up the family tree it is? Kissing cousins end up giving birth to children with deformities. I can imagine how ideal it must be to welcome a bundle of joy, with all his or her 3 eyes gazing lovingly at you.

"no matter how distant"? All humans are believed to come from same parents.. and yet your parents married themselves. people from same village for example are believed to have descended from same ancestor yet they find ways to marry themselves.

And what's ur definition of blood relative ?
Someone very far in relational lines can never be defined as your blood relative in any sense..

EmekaMD:
"no matter how distant"? All humans are believed to come from same parents.. and yet your parents married themselves. people from same village for example are believed to have descended from same ancestor yet they find ways to marry themselves.

And what's ur definition of blood relative ?
Someone very far in relational lines can never be defined as your blood relative in any sense..

I'm talking about your extended family & not some wonky theory.
Dude, I'm not here for lessons. Look up that word if your question isn't rhetorical.

XhosaNostra:


I'm talking about your extended family & not some wonky theory.
Dude, I'm not here for lesson. Look up that word if your question isn't rhetoric.

that's it exactly.

How extended is "your extended". there has to be a proper definition of the boundaries.
Otherwise people from same villages are in one way or another connected hence can never have anything together.

EmekaMD:
that's it exactly.

How extended is "your extended". there has to be a proper definition of the boundaries.
Otherwise people from same villages are in one way or another connected hence can never have anything together.

It's pretty much standard for everyone. Your extended family are your grandparents, uncles, aunts, COUSINS etc. Not everyone lives in some kind of a clanish hive where everyone is related. Date someone you aren't related to. Period. Must you keep it in the family?

Whatever rocks your boat man

XhosaNostra:



It's pretty much standard for everyone. Your extended family are your grandparents, uncles, aunts, COUSINS etc. Not everyone lives in some kind of a clanish hive where everyone is related. Date someone you aren't related to. Period. Must you keep it in the family?

if this definition is the standard then everything I've opined up there is consistent with yours.
Everything up there is definitely outside this scope.

By Cousins I'm sure you mean first cousins but I'd also like to include second cousins too..