Consanguineous marriage and reproduction in Beirut, Lebanon.

Effects of consanguineous marriages on couples' fertility and on offspring mortality were investigated in Beirut through a population-based health survey of 2,752 households. A multistage random sampling procedure was used, and information was obtained from all ever-married women in the household about their reproductive performance and genealogical relationship with spouse; demographic and socioeconomic information was also recorded. Twenty-five percent of all marriages were between relatives, and the spouses were first cousins in approximately 57% of all consanguineous marriages. Total pregnancies, live births, and living children were significantly higher among consanguineous couples than among nonconsanguineous ones, as was the proportion dead among children ever born. However, no difference remained in either fertility or mortality, when allowance was made for socioeconomic status, religious affiliation, and marriage duration. The issue of confounding is discussed, and the lack of significant pattern in the final analysis is interpreted as resulting from a long-term practice of consanguineous marriages.     

Group size and group income as influences on marriage patterns in Hawaii

This paper analyzes the association of ethnic group size and median ethnic group income with the percentages of cross-ethnic marriages and combinations of marriages of each of the 5 major racial/ethnic groups in Hawaii. The data cover marriages that took place from 1975-1977 in Hawaii's 5 major ethnic groups: 1) Caucasian, 2) Chinese, 3) Filipino, 4) Japanese, and 5) Hawaiian or part-Hawaiian. The number of Caucasians marrying in Hawaii are severely inflated by military and tourist marriages. Chinese (highest median income) and Hawaiians or part-Hawaiians (lowest median income) show the highest percentages of outmarriage. The number of persons making up given groups appears to play a role; larger groups have lower outmarriage rates. Since 19 of 20 potential marriage partners a Chinese person meets are of another racial group, as compared to 2 of 3 for Caucasians or Japanese, it is hardly surprising that the Chinese outmarry more often than other groups. Data show a tendency to an East-West split; Chinese-Japanese marriages are overrepresented, and marriages of Japanese men to Caucasian women are underrepresented. However, marriages of Caucasian males to Chinese women are also overrepresented. Also, Puerto Ricans and Filipinos tend to be more representative of the West than Caucasians are. The authors conclude that cultural attributes likely to lead to a given level of income, rather than income per se, influence the probability of persons marrying a member of a given racial/ethnic group other than their own.     

Consanguineous marriage in the capital city Sana'a, Yemen

Consanguineous marriage is traditionally common throughout the Eastern Mediterranean region, especially in the mainly Muslim countries. To date, there is little information on consanguinity in Yemen. The aim of this study was to ascertain the rate of consanguineous marriage and average coefficient of inbreeding in Sana'a City, Yemen. A population survey was conducted with the intention of covering married couples resident in Sana'a City by means of a multi-stage random sampling technique. A total of 1050 wives and husbands were interviewed on consanguinity in their households. The total incidence of consanguinity was 44-7% (95% CI 41.7-47.7%) with first-cousin marriages constituting 71.6% of the total consanguineous marriages and 32% of all marriages. Paternal parallel first cousins (Type I) accounted for 49% of first-cousin marriages. The average coefficient of inbreeding (F) was 0.02442. The incidence of consanguinity is relatively high in Yemen with predominantly first-cousin marriage. This might be related to the deeply rooted social and cultural beliefs in the country.     

Intra-ethnic and inter-ethnic marriage and divorce in Hawaii

A comparison of intra- and inter-ethnic divorce rates in Hawaii showed that inter-ethnic marriages resulted in a higher proportion of divorces than did intra-ethnic marriages when the marriage data used had to do with all marriages occurring in Hawaii. However, a sizeable portion of marriages in Hawaii are of nonresidents who, if they divorce, probably divorce elsewhere. Nonresident marriages are chiefly intra-ethnic marriages of Caucasians. When examining the proportions of divorces to resident marriages, within-group marriages are more at risk than inter-ethnic marriages. As in prior research, persons who marry members of other racial/ethnic groups tend to marry persons from groups with income levels similar to their own. As in previous reports, some cross-ethnic combinations appeared more at risk for divorce than did others. Group income appeared to be a predictor of risk. When considering only resident marriages as related to divorces, those marriages in which the bride was from a higher income group than the groom were at a significantly greater risk for divorce than marriage in which the bride came from an income group lower than that of the groom.     

The practice of consanguineous marriage in oman: prevalence, trends and determinants

The practice of consanguineous marriage has been the culturally preferred form of marriage in most Arab and the Middle Eastern countries, including Oman, but due to a paucity of population-based data in the past there is a dearth of information about its form and dynamics in Oman. Recent national-level surveys allow this gap to be filled. This paper examines the prevalence, trends and determinants of consanguineous marriages in Oman using data from the 2000 Oman National Health Survey. The results indicate a very high prevalence of consanguineous marriage in Oman, as more than half (52%) of marriages are consanguineous. First cousin unions are the most common type of consanguineous unions, constituting 39% of all marriages and 75% of all consanguineous marriages. The study observed various patterns of consanguinity, some of them common with other Arab nations, and some unique in nature. Women's age at marriage, employment, place of childhood residence and geographical region appear to be significant determinants of consanguineous marriages. Consanguineous marriage shows a strong association with marital stability, early age at marriage and early-age childbearing. There has been no appreciable change in the prevalence of consanguineous unions in Oman over the last four decades despite massive socioeconomic development and modernization. However, recent marriage cohorts show slight declining trends. The results suggest that consanguinity is likely to remain stable in the future or decline at a slow rate. Specific health education and genetic counselling should be followed in line with WHO recommendations to minimize the negative health consequences of consanguinity for child health.     

Estimates of cousin marriage and mean inbreeding in the United Kingdom from 'birth briefs'

From 626 ascendant genealogies, known as 'birth briefs', deposited by members of the Society of Genealogists in their London library, rates of consanguineous marriage and coefficients of mean inbreeding (a) of offspring were estimated for cohorts of marriages contracted in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The rate of first cousin marriage in the generation estimated to have married during the 1920s was 0.32%, with no marriages between second cousins. The mean inbreeding coefficient for the offspring of these marriages was estimated as 0.0002. In the previous generation 1.12% of the marriages were between first cousins, and the estimate of mean inbreeding was 0.0007. Comparison with data taken from the published literature suggests that the levels of cousin marriage observed are consistent with a secular decline during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.     

Consanguineous marriage among the Fulani

The Fulani are a broad ethnic category of nomadic and seminomadic pastoralists and agropastoralists living in the semiarid Sahel region of sub-Saharan Africa. The Fulani are patrilineal, patrilocal, and moderately polygynous, with arranged first marriages accompanied by the payment of bridewealth, ideally in the form of cattle. Consanguineous marriage is frequent, with first or second cousin marriage preferred. In this paper we present data on levels of consanguineous marriage among the Fulani of northern Burkina Faso and test the hypothesis that inbreeding may be more frequent when there is a scarcity of cattle available, since bridewealth demands are thought to be reduced with close-kin marriage. Among 308 women's marriages, 203 (65.8%) were between kin up to and including second cousins, and 102 (33.1%) were between nonkin. Among 276 men's marriages, 196 (71.0%) were between kin up to and including second cousins, and 77 (27.9%) were between nonkin. The mean population inbreeding coefficient (alpha) was 0.0355 for women, and 0.0374 for men. No increase was found in population levels of inbreeding estimated from marriages contracted after the droughts of 1973 and 1984, which drastically reduced the Fulani's cattle stocks. However, a significantly higher rate of consanguineous marriage was found in families owning the fewest cattle.     

Isolation and marriage patterns in four South Tyrolean villages (Italy) during the nineteenth century

No information is currently available on the marriage patterns of German-speaking communities of the South Tyrol area. The aim of this study is to investigate the reproductive isolation of four South Tyrolean mountain villages during the 19th century. Data about 3953 marriages were drawn from existing pedigrees and completed with data from the parish registers of the studied villages to calculate the following indicators: age at marriage, endogamy, inbreeding from dispensations and from isonymy and repeated pairs of surnames among couples. The results show high levels of endogamy (78-87%) and an elevated age at marriage in all the studied villages. The percentages of consanguineous marriages (10-33%) vary considerably but result overall in relatively low inbreeding values (alpha 0.0015-0.0036; Ft 0.0098-0.0138). Levels of endogamy are consistent with the geographic characteristics of the area, while inbreeding values are lower than those observed in previous studies on Alpine communities. This is due to a low frequency of marriages between close relatives, probably related to the peculiar demographic and cultural characteristics of the studied populations that differentiate them from neighbouring Italian-speaking villages.     

Consanguineous marriage and differentials in age at marriage, contraceptive use and fertility in Pakistan

Fertility rates in Pakistan have remained consistently high over the past three decades. While numerous studies have examined sociodemographic determinants, the role of biological factors, and particularly consanguinity, has received little attention, even though marriage between close biological relatives continues to be the norm in Pakistan. Reproductive behaviour among women in consanguineous (first cousin) and non-consanguineous unions was compared, using data from a 1995 study of multi-ethnic communities in Karachi and the 1990-91 Pakistan Demographic & Health Survey (PDHS). The results show that, although female age at first marriage has been gradually rising in both study samples, women in consanguineous unions married at younger ages and were less likely to use modern contraceptive methods. In the Karachi sample, women in first cousin unions experienced a higher mean number of pregnancies and also reported a higher mean number of children ever born (CEB). However, their mean number of surviving children did not differ from those born to women in non-consanguineous unions, implying higher prenatal and/or postnatal losses in couples related as first cousins. On the other hand, the PDHS showed both lower CEB values for women in consanguineous marriages and a lower number of surviving children. Given the continuing popularity of consanguineous marriage, these findings have important implications for future fertility reduction in Pakistan.     

Socioeconomic, demographic and legal influences on consanguinity and kinship in northern coastal Sweden 1780-1899

Most studies on consanguinity have been conducted on contemporary populations and have focused on the prevalence and types of preferred intra-familial marriage. With its comprehensive birth, marriage and deaths records dating back to the late 17th century, and the legal bar on first cousin marriage removed in the mid-19th century, Sweden offers unique opportunities to examine the factors that determine by whom, where and why consanguineous marriages were contracted. The present study covers the period 1780-1899 and presents a detailed portrait of cousin and sibling exchange marriages in the Skellefte? region of northern coastal Sweden. The combined prevalence of first, second and third cousin marriage increased from 2.3% in 1790-1810 to 8.8% in 1880-1899, and multi-generation consanguinity also increased significantly over the study period. The distribution and prevalence of first cousin marriages was strikingly non-random, with a significantly greater propensity for consanguinity among land-owning families, especially involving first-born sons, within specific pedigrees, and in a number of more remote inland communities. Additional factors associated with a greater likelihood of consanguineous marriage included physical or mental disability among males, and among females the prior birth of an illegitimate child. Besides the inherent interest in the social and demographic structure of this region of northern Sweden during the course of the 19th century, in future studies it will be important to determine the degree to which the observed patterns of consanguineous and sibling exchange marriages in these past generations could have influenced present-day genetic structure.     

Modernization or cultural maintenance: the practice of consanguineous marriage in Iran

Consanguineous marriage has been the culturally preferred form of marriage in Iran. This paper examines the extent to which education, urbanization and changes in modes of economic production have affected the incidence of consanguineous marriage and attitudes towards consanguineous marriages. The 2002 Iran Fertility Transition Survey conducted in the four provinces of Gilan, Sistan and Baluchistan, Yazd and West Azarbaijan provides information on the degree of relationship of marriage partners from around 6550 ever-married women aged 15-49. Attitudinal data were also obtained. Overall, the level of marriage to biological relatives ranged from 23% in Gilan to 78% in Sistan and Baluchistan. The paper finds that the practice of marriage to biological relatives has remained surprisingly resilient in the face of modernizing influences and that ethnicity, province and area of residence remain important determinants. On the other hand, attitudes have shifted towards marriage with a non-relative. Anthropological research would illuminate the processes of consanguineous marriage in Iran.     

The role of migration processes in the formation of marriage structure of Moscow population. II. Assortative mating for the age, birthplace and nationality

Positive assortative mating for age at marriage, birthplace and nationality has been revealed by means of sample analysis of couples married in Moscow in 1955 and 1980. The correlation coefficient between mates for age at marriage was r = 0.81 in 1955 and r = 0.88 in 1980; the age difference between spouses had a mean of 1.55 and 2.21 years, respectively. The determinative role of migration in forming Moscow population marriage structure accounts for the fact that the greater part of marriages registered in the capital are between migrants from various regions of the USSR or between the Moscow-born and the migrants. The proportion of marriages between individuals born in Moscow has increased over 25 years from 10 to 38%, these values being significantly higher than those expected under random mating between the migrants and the Moscow-born. The contingency coefficient measuring the association between the birthplaces of husband and wife was K = 0.16 in 1955 and K = 0.11 in 1980, the preferential marriage between mates born in the same region being still significant even when marriages are registered in Moscow. The highest degrees of assortative mating were observed for nationality character: K = 0.37 in 1955 and K = 0.28 in 1980. The decrease in these values over the past 25 years has resulted in a slight growth of the proportion of international marriages (from 14.75 to 16.53%) which has not yet reached the level expected under panmixia (about 21%).     

Population demographic structure of the city of Ulan Ude: Ethnic composition and age at marriage

The marriage structure of the population of Ulan Ude, the capital of Buryat Republic, which is characterized by a mixed ethnic composition, has been studied. Differences between Ulan Ude districts in a number of genetic demographic parameters have been found. In ethnic terms, the city district populations differ from one another in the number of ethnic groups and the proportions of the largest groups (Russians and Buryats). In the total Ulan Ude population, the proportions of Russian men and women among persons contracting marriages are 71.44 and 73.79%, respectively; those of Buryat men and women are 23.36 and 22.79%, respectively. The total proportion of all other ethnic groups among both men and women contracting marriages is no more than 5.2%. The mean ages at first marriage in both indigenous and immigrant populations of Ulan Ude are relatively old; these values are 25.9 and 24.72 years for Buryat men and women and 24.86 and 22.69 for non-indigenous men and women, respectively.     

Frequency of first-cousin marriages from civil marriage certificates in Argentina

In Argentina information concerning relatedness of mates, especially first cousins, was introduced into the legal marriage certificate, record, and statistical report in 1968. The 1980-1981 biennial data, including 212,320 legal marriage reports, were analyzed for all of Argentina, subdivided into 22 states and 494 counties. The registered 0.373% of first-cousin marriages allows an estimate of consanguineous marriages of 0.629% and a mean inbreeding coefficient of alpha = 0.00031. This estimate lies between the observed alpha = 0.00011 from hospital births and alpha = 0.00052 from Roman Catholic Church dispensations. These differences are not large, and they may be due to sampling variations, indicating a low rate of inbreeding in Argentina. The frequency of first-cousin marriages in the 22 Argentine states is heterogenous, and 9 counties, representing 5 different regions, were identified as having a high rate of first-cousin marriage. Three of these were previously known as genetic isolates. A second series of data, including all 32,690 legal marriages registered in the state of Buenos Aires during the first half of 1984, showed a frequency of first-cousin marriages of 0.677%. First-cousin mates, compared with non-first-cousin mates, had a higher frequency of both mates being born in the same state of Buenos Aires and similar frequency distributions for age at marriage, single previous marriage status, level of education, and rate of unemployment. It is concluded that legal marriage data on consanguinity is reliable, inexpensive, universal, and enduring. The last two characteristics make them suitable for the survey of geographic clusters and time trends.     

When brother–sister marriage becomes incest

This essay traces how marriages between brothers and sisters in the Lao and Thai royal families came to be conceptualised as ‘incest’ and therefore taboo over the first half of the twentieth century. This change was associated with changing royal marriage strategies and changing ideas about the nature of royal persons. The article concludes with some broader theoretical reflections on incest.     

Divorce in the early years of marriage in England and Wales: results from a prospective study using linked records

A representative sample of over 1000 couples who married during 1979 in England and Wales was followed from the date of marriage until mid-1984 to investigate the characteristics of couples who divorce soon after marriage. Results of this 5 year study show that couples who apparently lived together before marriage had a below average chance of early divorce, whereas couples where the addresses of the partners before marriage were very close had a significantly high rate of early breakdown. The chance of early divorce was significantly above average for spouses marrying in their teens and for both husbands and wives who, at their marriage, belonged to social class 5 (work in unskilled manual occupations). Couples who married with a civil ceremony had an above average (and those marrying with a religious ceremony a below average) risk of early divorce, but such differences were found to be negligible on analyzing the results from a matched case-control study in which each "case" marriage (one which did end in early divorce) was matched with a "control" marriage (one which did not end in early divorce). There is substantial evidence that age at marriage and previous marital status of the marriage partners have a decided influence upon the propensity to divorce. 2 conclusions concerning fertility are more likely than the average married couple to have had a pre-maritally conceived child, and 2) that couples who divorce relatively quickly tend on average to have larger family sizes, even if children who were pre-martitally conceived are exluded.     

Genetic demography of the Kuznetsk Basin population: changes in marriage assortativeness with respect to ethnicity and age in the Belovo city population with time

A genetic demographic study has been performed in the city of Belovo with the use of the data on marriages contracted there in 1970 and 1994-1999. Marriage assortativeness with respect to age has been found to be the strongest and remain unchanged during the lifetime of one generation (r = 0.730 in 1970 and r = 0.801 in 1994-1999). Monoethnic marriages were substantially more frequent than interethnic ones in the Belovo population during the period studied, although the ethnic marriage assortativeness considerably decreased (K = 0.386 in 1970 and K = 0.141 in 1994-1999). Panmixia has been observed in the Russian population of Belovo. Other Eastern Slavs (Ukrainians and Belarussians) are characterized by negative marriage assortativeness and panmixia; positive marriage assortativeness has been found in other ethnic groups.     

Migration as a determinant of marriage pattern: preliminary report on consanguinity among Afghans

Two sample populations, one refugee and one resident, were studied. The frequencies of consanguineous marriages came out to be 49.8%and 55.4%, respectively, for the refugees and the residents. Caste endogamy was dominant both in the residents and the refugees. The mean coefficient of inbreeding was calculated to be 0.0303 for the refugee population and 0.0332 for the resident population samples. First cousin marriage was the dominant type of marriage in both samples; father's brother's daughter (FBD) marriage was more frequent among the refugees while mother's brother's daughter(MBD) marriage was more frequent among the residents. Education has no decreasing effect on the incidence of consanguineous marriages. A significant difference in the pattern of marriages in the refugees is observed after the Saur Revolution of 1979.