Asc guys hope you are having a blessed Friday.

I was reading about the Ptolemaic dynasty the other day and how cousin marriage was common in royal families throughout history. That made me wonder about modern times. Cousin marriage is still fairly common in some parts of the world like in the Middle East and South Asia where it’s often a longstanding cultural tradition but also something outsiders tend to mock or criticise.

It doesn’t seem nearly as common in Somalia as many outsiders would assume. Most of the time when people say cousin marriage in a context it’s l used as an insult rather than describing something that actually happens. When it does occur it’s usually arranged or strongly pushed by older relatives for ex a mother encouraging her son to marry her sister’s daughter or close cousin’s daughter ti keep the family bond stronger! The biological problem is that when two people who share a high percentage of DNA have children the likelihood of recessive mutations pairing up increases. This raises the risk of congenital malformations inherited disorders weakened immune systems and even infant mortality also called inbreeding depression.

I actually know of a family friend whose brother married a second cousin in an arranged marriage or forced you could say. They had a child who was born with severe congenital abnormalities missing organs and he spent years in the hospital. The parents and older relatives usually completely reject the idea that it could have been caused by shared genetics. Instead believing it as fate a curse or simply God’s will. That makes me curious whether anyone here has seen similar cases in Somali families were the children affected, how was it explaine and how did people around them react? Did relatives acknowledge the genetic risks or was it dismissed as something spiritual or divine?

Disclaimer: I’m not trying to criticize or offend anyone’s beliefs just curious about how cousin marriage is viewed and understood in Somali society both culturally and from a scientific perspective.

So sorry to ask, firstly I’m going to say I don’t believe us Somalis do this practice, I think it’s more of a Pakistani/arab thing

But I needed abit more confirmation. Is this practice actually done in this, is it common? Uncommon but sometimes done? Or never ever done?

I personally have never met any Somalis with cousins as parents, is anybody in your family related and got married?