Engaged couple discover they are brother and sister just before wedding

[Ideologue]

Has anyone here ever gone to the trouble of finding out how closely related they are to their sexual partners?  I'm not much into genealogy.  Cal?

I have. Turned out inbreeding wasn't a problem.

They're still cousins, but I imagine differing chromosome count was probably a more pressing concern.

[Josquius]

Interesting.
I have read that this is quite common (well, as common as such a weird situation can be), if siblings aren't raised together they will be attracted to each other for some reason.

A phenotypically similar mate (which a sibling is likely to be) evidences genetic similarity, and hence any offspring will contain more of your genes than if you'd mated with a less similar person, but because of inbreeding problems we exhibit a defense mechanism (although problems are hardly a given, only likelier, at least in a single-generation example).

I've also heard there's a notion that novelty/exoticism is also sought after specifically because of dissimilar genes, which may improve your offspring's fitness.

I guess you just don't want to be in the middle.

Yeah, I've read the 'opposites attract' thing too- apparently why yellow fever is so prevailant amongst white kids. Strange stuff.

[The Brain]

Yeah, I've read the 'opposites attract' thing too- apparently why yellow fever is so prevailant amongst white kids. Strange stuff.

No, that's emoism. If they wanted different they'd go aborigines or pygmies.

[Lettow77]

Makes one wish they had a long-lost sibling, huh?  Obsessive love sounds pretty great.

+1
But no, incest is given a favourable view in most circumstances.
Lesbian incest doubly so.

[Martinus]

Has anyone here ever gone to the trouble of finding out how closely related they are to their sexual partners?  I'm not much into genealogy.  Cal?

I didn't check on the account of a very low risk of inbreeding.

[Razgovory]

Interesting.
I have read that this is quite common (well, as common as such a weird situation can be), if siblings aren't raised together they will be attracted to each other for some reason.

Incest is yucky, unnatural and does not occur spontaneously in the animal kingdom.

Fortunately forced sex is found in the animal kingdom, so rape is perfectly natural.  Along with slavery, cannibalism and infanticide.

[Slargos]

Interesting.
I have read that this is quite common (well, as common as such a weird situation can be), if siblings aren't raised together they will be attracted to each other for some reason.

A phenotypically similar mate (which a sibling is likely to be) evidences genetic similarity, and hence any offspring will contain more of your genes than if you'd mated with a less similar person, but because of inbreeding problems we exhibit a defense mechanism (although problems are hardly a given, only likelier, at least in a single-generation example).

I've also heard there's a notion that novelty/exoticism is also sought after specifically because of dissimilar genes, which may improve your offspring's fitness.

I guess you just don't want to be in the middle.

Yeah, I've read the 'opposites attract' thing too- apparently why yellow fever is so prevailant amongst white kids. Strange stuff.

Prevalent in Hollywood, sure. In the genpop, not so much. Racial segregation is still alive and well despite a few cases of perverted abberation.

[Caliga]

Has anyone here ever gone to the trouble of finding out how closely related they are to their sexual partners?  I'm not much into genealogy.  Cal?

Princesca and I are 13th cousins as the most distant possible relation.  I would guess most people of similar ethnic descent to their spouse are that close or closer--our common ancestor was a North Carolina planter named Needham Dees who lived in the late 18th century.

Princesca's parents are third cousins, and my dad's parents were first cousins by marriage... in fact they met at the wedding of my grandfather's uncle to my grandmother's aunt.

[garbon]

Old article for the Guardian. I like that the quote about it not being odd for someone to walking on their fiance having sex with their own father.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2002/jan/09/familyandrelationships.features103

[Maximus]

The genetic defects of their children would be one big problem, I would think.

I don't think that's likely in a single generation.

That being said, at least your position against their marriage is based in a potential third party harm - Maximus's apparent line of reasoning is completely incomprehensiblw to me since it does not even purport to do that.

I don't see why it should be a problem for them. It shouldn't be a problem for anyone else for any reason.

[Caliga]

I think the effects of inbreeding are often grossly exaggerated for whatever reason.  I think it takes multiple instances over successive generations to produce dudes like that trapjawed Spanish king with the Jay Leno chin.

[garbon]

I don't see why it should be a problem for them. It shouldn't be a problem for anyone else for any reason.

I think he was taking issue with the implied part of your statement that if they had grown up as brother and sister then there would be a problem.

[Martinus]

I think he was taking issue with the implied part of your statement that if they had grown up as brother and sister then there would be a problem.

Yup. I see this as a consenting adults thing. If one does not care about the genetic defects of potential offspring (as Max apparently doesn't) then as long as both parties are consenting, there is no reason to differentiate between a situation where they grew up together and where they didn't.

The yuck factor should not inform the legal or moral judgement of other people's sexual habits.

[Martinus]

I think the effects of inbreeding are often grossly exaggerated for whatever reason.  I think it takes multiple instances over successive generations to produce dudes like that trapjawed Spanish king with the Jay Leno chin.

Yeah. And if you consider that for a moment, criminalizing breeding of consenting adults because of a potential risk of genetic defects for the offspring seems quite monstrous by modern human rights standards (that's eugenics pure and simple).

[Sheilbh]

I think the effects of inbreeding are often grossly exaggerated for whatever reason.  I think it takes multiple instances over successive generations to produce dudes like that trapjawed Spanish king with the Jay Leno chin.

I saw a documentary about the higher prevalence of certain genetic problems in the British-Pakistani community.  It was largely due to arranged marriages from a relatively small number of inter-connected families and cousin marriagees are relatively common.  Here the Pakistani community make up about a third of all diagnosed genetic illnesses.

Apparently it's worse here than in Pakistan because the number of available brides/husbands was a lot smaller.  Now there's a bit of a campaign by Imams and others to try and stop cousin marriages.