What is consanguinity?
In: 7
It is a word you also hear with regard to recessive genes contributing to birth defects or illness that become more prevalent and problematic in consanguineous marriages, such as generations of first-cousin marriages.
Con – “same”
Sanguine – “blood”
Same-blooded, so consanguineous would mean the two people are closely related. Usually used in reference to a particularly scandalous marriage, and laws regarding them.
You are not allowed to marry your own siblings in most (all?) US jurisdictions under consanguineous marriage laws.
When you carry a rare gene that can cause a very nasty genetic disease or, it’s often rare to find another partner that also carries this gene.
So the chances of you having a child that has the disease is pretty small since you need to find completely at random a partner that also has the gene you have.
But when the two partners come from the same family you increase the odds of having children with generic diseases by a ridiculous amount.
Because instead of picking a random partner from anywhere in the world, you are picking a partner that could very well have the same ancestor that gave you that gene that can cause the nasty genetic disease.
So the closer you are related to your partner, the higher the odds of both of you sharing genes of the same ancestor and therefore the higher the chance of having children with generic diseases.
Latest Answers