MP’s call to ban cousin marriage is prejudiced | Letter

Dr Qurratul-Ain Rehman points to the low absolute risk of birth defects in children born to consanguineous parents in response to Richard Holden’s bill

I find it intriguing that a Conservative former minister, Richard Holden, has called for first-cousin marriage to be banned in the UK. He argues that the practice threatens women’s freedom and leads to birth defects. Medical evidence shows that while the risk of birth defects is relatively higher among children born to consanguineous parents, the absolute risk remains low. In fact, the absolute risk increase is comparable to factors such as older maternal age, obesity and smoking – but there are no calls to ban them.

As a GP working at the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability in London, I manage patients with genetic disorders ranging from Down’s syndrome to rare mitochondrial and genetic diseases. None of my patients were born of consanguineous parents.

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