Recently, the BBC reported on findings that were published by the 'Born in Bradford' study that appear to shed new light on the child health impacts of first cousin marriage.
In the study, more than one in six children have first-cousin parents. Many, but not all, came from Bradford's Pakistani community.
Professor Sam Oddie a consultant neonatologist and researcher at Bradford Teaching Hospitals said: 'It's an oversimplification to say that cousin marriage is the root of all excess recessive disorders in Bradford or in Pakistani communities.'
Conservative MP Richard Holden proposed a bill to ban marriage between first cousins in December 2024 (see BioNews 1269).
The British Society for Genetic Medicine responded: 'Citing health as a reason to ban first-cousin marriage is not justified,' (see BioNews 1274).