What are the chances of two cousins who married each other of conceiving a normal baby?

I have a relative who so call his cousin his wife that are related for example the guy's mother is his cousin's auntie. So they have to be first cousin. They want to have a baby together, which is gross, but they're afraid of birth defects. What are the chances of their baby having a birth defect.What are the chances of two cousins who married each other of conceiving a normal baby?
Marriage between first cousins is hardly a recipe for congenital defects. There *can* be problems, yes, but it is by no means even remotely certain that there would be any problems at all.





A study published a few years ago by the National Society of Genetic Counselors concluded that children of first cousins have only a 2 or 3 percent higher risk of any birth defects as compared to any other (unrelated) couple -- that's roughly the difference in risk between a woman having a child at 41, and at 30. In other words: it is NOT the genetic problem that people have claimed and feared. In fact, those numbers (the 3 and 4 percent) indicate that there isn't even enough of a difference in risk to run and get genetic testing. (I would do it anyway, but that's me.)





In the United States, marriage between first cousins is perfectly legal in 20 states. It is legal in Canada and throughout Europe; in fact, the US (where marriage between first cousins is illegal in several states) stands alone in its prohibition, and in some countries it is more than just permissible, it is encouraged.





Regardless of who a person marries...there is no way to be absolutely, 100 percent certain of having a healthy child. That's the nature of life. For *anyone* who has concerns about genetic abnormalities the best thing to do is consult with a geneticist to see what genetic testing, if any, would be recommended.What are the chances of two cousins who married each other of conceiving a normal baby?
Same blood running through same blood is not good...Im sure chances aren't that good...Id tell them not to even try. Adopt!
i have known only 2 couples that married that closely, both have had babies with birth defects. i don't know if this a good representation of what usually happens. One couple had a boy who was blind, deaf, and had major muscle weaknesses so he has never learned to crawl let alone walk. He's 12 and hasn't yet been potty trained and cannot speak well enough to be understood by anyone outside his parents. The other couple have a daughter and a son. The daughter is mostly normal, she has some muscular problems and a learning disorder. The son on the other hand has a ton of problems. 9 years old and he is finally begining to potty train, is wheelchair bound, and although he makes himself clear with jumbled words and gestures he doesn't speak much. He also has a spinal problem that makes it that his legs are completely useless. He is able to crawl and he lives with his grandmother because he proved too hard for his parents to handle.
First cousins who marry have a 3% chance of having birth defects. The general population has a 2% chance of having birth defects. If they are concerned, they should consult a genetic specialist, but otherwise, have fun and make their family. If your family is generally healthy, it is likely a non-problem. I know plenty of couples completely genetically unrelated who had children with severe birth defects including my parents.





1st Cousin marriage is common in most of the world and is perfectly legal in about 1/3 of states.
the chances are quite low for having a chid with problems andeven if the did it most probably will not be because they are related. the problem comes more f there is already a genetic condition n the family that can be passed down as then a child could have double the chance of being affected.if they are really worried they needto talk to a genetics doctor
From an article on Slate: ';Now a study by the National Society of Genetic Counselors says that having a child with your first cousin raises the risk of a significant birth defect from about 3-to-4 percent to about 4-to-7 percent.';





Not too high, really.
Great! It's really not so big a deal - brother-sister incest will probably even be okay (yikes, I know. I mean in theory, biologically - not really!! aaaah...)





Your genes don't get angry and mutate, because they're family - the problem isn't in mixing more-than-average-similar DNA. It's really with diseases and conditions that are recessive - hemophilia, dwarfism, progeria (but hardly ever!)





Check out the Ptolemies - they controlled Egypt in the 4th-1st centuries BC, and they inbred like CRAZY! I mean, brother-to-sister several times, and then uncle-to-niece, except by that time, that union was also grandson-to-grandma or something and a whole bunch of other crazy mess... But, aside from the fact that they looked pretty much exactly the same for 300 years, I don't think they had any problems! They had lots of children, and ruled intelligently and carefully; they were the last Greek state to fall to Rome. Cleopatra is so famous for being subtle and smart; ancient historians always say how she wasn't very pretty, but she got everyone under her spell anyway with her intelligence.





All right, sorry for going history-nerd on you there... but, I'm just trying to say, biologically it's not so much of a disaster. I'm not trying to condone it - I think socially it's a mess. But, bottom line: no mutants. Just recessive diseases.
well to tell u the truth i agree with you that is not right to have children with family members...i do not know the actual statistics of the chances of the baby having birth defects but i do know i have a half sister who had not one but two kids with her first cousin and both of my nephews had no birth defects what so ever although the entire family was scared to death that it would happen...i guess my sis just got lucky so in my opinion i wouldn't suggest they do it just in case...better to be safe than sorry
i just finished learning about this in school. and theres a good chance that the baby will have some things wrong with it...but its also possible that the baby could be fairly normal. there would only be like..really crazy birth defects if it was a baby born from like a sister and a brother.
Don't be so judgmental. 20% of all marriages in the world are between cousins, and marraige between first cousins is legal in a majority of the states in the US. The genetic simularities between first cousins are very little and there is roughly a 2% chance of conciveing a child with abnormatlities due to the genetic relations between first cousins.
It would be unlikely that there would be any problems.


The first indication would be to look at the health history of their families.
the thing is it was kinda the thing in bible time so i guess nothing will happen
i actually know two cousins who got married and have kids together. they've had two so far and both their kids are normal.