Cross Cousin Marriages -- Support Or Oppose ?

Recently I mused on the subject of In-law relationships for the newly widowed person. Do these relationships continue after the death of the law-link through the married person ? Many of us agreed that these relationships might continue if there is some continuing monetary give and take between ex-in-laws; otherwise, NO.

Here is a somewhat related question. The custom of cross-cousin marriages exist in several cultures in the East as well as the West [& I suspect in the other two directions as well]. Cross cousins and Parallel cousins refer to the children of our parents' brothers and sisters (parents' siblings).

Here is a picture <source> that shows the relationships:


[EGO is oneself, circles are Females, and Triangles are Males. Father's Sister's children, and Mother's Brother's children are cross cousins]:

"Cross cousin good; parallel cousin bad" is the basic rule in cultures that approve of such marital matches. Of course the other factors (age appropriateness, education, money, liking one another, etc..) would be applied as well. In the ancient collective family living schemes, cousins would grow up knowing full well who-is-marriable and who-isn't. In modern times, when nuclear families live far apart, even in different continents, such cross cousin marriages are still going on.

If there has been a cross-cousin marital link, and one parent of the two is widowed, the relationship transactions between the families would still continue....even without any money give or take, to whatever extent that is feasible.

I have known a few cross-cousin marriages in my extended family/clan. The children of the marriages have gone on to have lives as normal/ordinary as others born to those that had married thoroughly outside the family.

Do you approve of cross cousin marriages ? :
your son or daughter marrying his/her cross cousin ?
Are you married to your cross cousin ?

I should have added another question here.... fortuitously, still in Edit-time:

You find out that your child/sibling is seriously thinking of marrying someone who is the product(scion) of a cross cousin marriage: Worry, Act, or Ignore ?​

 

An acquaintance lost her first son (congenital heart disease) just before the child turned 2, and the couple spent a few years of agony before gambling again on a second pregnancy. Although one of them is from Karnataka (kannadiga) and the other from AP, the AP-husband was a child of cross-cousin marriage. However, each of their extended families had engaged in such practices a few times in the past. Their second son is now in his early 30's, married and doing OK. Still childless. However, I am not sure if the couple had disclosed any of their history to the (punjabi ancestry) girl who married him.

This is not something about India. Many children of immigrants to USA go on to marry their choices from whatever backgrounds, and ethnic origins.

In a United States, there are plenty of states where marriages between (any manner of) cousins is legal. No differentiations between parallel and cross cousins.


Laws regarding first-cousin marriage in the United States
Dark Blue = First-cousin marriage is legal
Light Blue = Allowed with requirements or exceptions
Pink /flesh = Banned with exceptions1
Red = Statute bans first-cousin marriage1
Brown = Criminal offense1

In the following link you can see state-by-state information on the law, and what is allowed.
Cousin marriage law in the United States - Wikipedia

 

Yes. In the USA, the immigrants from the horn of Africa (Somali's especially) have this practice. We know more about Somali-Americans, because of the congresswoman Ilhan Omar, and how often she is talked about on News channels. However, in her State, Minnesota, the practice is not legal.

California and Newyork, two very populous states in the USA approve of first cousin marriages. Hard to believe this is prevalent in the 2nd gen or among the native born in latter generations. Cloistered, and close-knit immigrant communities of all religions and ethnicities may have this. Most of the NewEngland states seem to fall into this category. This seems to be more of a coastal thing, than widespread in America. Icelandic communities have had this practice in prior centuries when migration was difficult, and people tended to continue to live close to where they were born.

Askenazim (the European Jews, mostly in USA & Israel) have the same problem as the Icelandic people. Ashkenazi Jews descended from a relatively small original population; not only do many Ashkenazi Jews share genetic features, but they are more prone to certain genetic diseases such as Tay Sachs, Gaucher disease and cystic fibrosis. Today it is very typical (and in Israel it is mandatory , source) for engaged couples to undergo genetic testing before a marriage is approved.

The family-name or last-name avoidance in marital match scheme is based on "Gôtra" or Gôthra, the patrilineal label of the candidate's ancestry. Two persons with the same Gotra are related through their fathers, and therefore cannot marry. When modern life had made collective family, or village communities fade away, this Gotra label is a means of sustaining the genetic variance in the future generations. I have seen matrimonial advert's in Indian newspapers mention Gotra: To let potential respondents know the ancestry, and signal that it matters.