The NHS has argued that such unions offer “stronger extended family support systems and economic advantages”
UK campaigners and politicians have criticized the National Health Service for promoting the “benefits” of first-cousin marriages, after it compared the genetic risk of cousin marriage to that of having children later in life or smoking and drinking during pregnancy.
The practice has been legal in Britain since the 16th century, when Henry VIII altered kinship rules to marry Anne Boleyn’s cousin, Catherine Howard. Current legislation prohibits unions between parents, children and siblings, but not first cousins.
Conservative MP Richard…
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