Word: cousin
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Most people are opposed to the idea of first-cousin marriage simply because of some vague and ignorant fear of genetic deformities. The National Society of Genetic Counselors recently released findings to suggest that, contrary to popular belief, first-cousin marriages pose only a minimal health risk. Those who oppose the marriages often cite the 1.7 to 2.8 percent increase in the risk that cousin-parents have of passing a genetic disease on to their children as compared to the initial risk level of about 3 or 4 percent in marriages between complete strangers. But the risk of genetic disease...
...change that. Often formed into patties, Quorn is a low-fat alternative to chicken nuggets and beef burgers. But Marlow faces a marketing challenge in describing Quorn--a mycoprotein, or fungus that has been fermented. This fungus is in the same family as mushrooms though it sounds like a cousin to the stuff that causes athlete's foot. But last month the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington group sometimes dubbed the Food Police, asked the FDA and the E.U. to restrict Marlow from describing Quorn as mushroom-like. ("Not all fungi are mushrooms," the group intones...
Publication of the study will do more than tweak public awareness; it will enlighten doctors who have urged cousin couples not to have children. "Just this week," says Bennett, "I saw a 23-year-old woman who had had a tubal ligation because her parents were cousins and her doctor told her she shouldn't have children." The study cites the case of "Amy," who had been in a relationship with her cousin for two years when, in 1996, she became pregnant. Her doctor suggested an abortion, and after a fruitless search for more information, she had the procedure. This...
...American proscription against cousin marriages grew in the 19th century as wilderness settlers tried to distinguish themselves from the "savage" Indians, says Martin Ottenheimer, author of the book Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage. "The truth is that Europeans were marrying their cousins and Native Americans were...
...doesn't God have stern words on the subject? Christie Smith, 37, a Nevada writer, says she felt guilty when she fell in love with her first cousin's son Mark. "I was trying so hard to convince myself not to have these feelings," she recalls, "that I went to the Bible looking for confirmation that it was wrong. And what I found was the exact opposite: support for cousin marriages." The patriarch Jacob married two of his first cousins, Rachel and Leah; Isaac and Rebekah were first cousins once removed. (The Roman Catholic Church has opposed cousin marriages...