Even though most people accept that consanguinity can have a deleterious effect
on the health of the offspring, the fact that such marriages have been practiced worldwide for
many hundreds of years indicates that the advantages are generally perceived as greatly
outweighing the disadvantages. The detrimental health effects are mainly caused by the
expression of rare, recessive genes inherited from a common ancestor(s), and the closer the
biological relationship between the parents, the greater is the probability that their offspring
will inherit identical copies of disease-causing recessive genes. In most families where the
parents are first cousins this added risk is estimated to be about 2-4% above the background
risk in the general community. In recent years there has been a general overall reduction in the
frequency of consanguineous marriages worldwide, although the current rates in most of the
countries where they are practiced are still unacceptably high. Attempts to reduce the
incidence of consanguineous marriages should be undertaken with tact and diplomacy
together with an insight into and knowledge of the cultural and societal norms of the
communities concerned. We describe attempts in various countries to offer training,
educational and counseling programs aimed at reducing the incidence of consanguineous
marriages. We also discuss whether religious intervention to discourage the practice of
consanguineous marriage would be effective, and whether the participation of a Muslim cleric
or physician might influence the decision-making process among women (and their
husbands) with regard to their acceptance of prenatal diagnosis and termination of pregnancy.
Keywords: Consanguineous marriages, counseling, education, frequency,
recessive genes, religious intervention.