Consanguineous Marriage is the marriage between close relatives, such as parents and children, uncles and nephews and between cousins, for example, which may represent a risk for a future pregnancy due to the greater probability of inheriting recessive genes responsible for rare diseases.
The greater the degree of kinship, the greater the likelihood of risks for the future child. This is because the more relationship the couple has with the other, the greater the chance that the recessive genes they have will be transferred to the baby and there will be a manifestation of a disease, such as congenital blindness, sickle cell anemia and cystic fibrosis, for example.
For this reason, in case of marriage between cousins, for example, it is important to have a geneticist accompaniment so that all risks of future pregnancy can be assessed.
Risks of marriage between cousins
The risks of marriage between cousins are greater the closer the degree of kinship, as there is an increased chance of combining two recessive genes, one from the father and the other from the mother and which were silenced in the body, with the manifestation of rare diseases. The main diseases that can happen due to consanguineous marriage are:
- Congenital deafness, in which the child is born without being able to hear; Cystic fibrosis, which is an inherited disease in which the glands produce abnormal secretions that interfere with the digestive and respiratory tract, in addition to increasing the chance of infections. See how to identify Cystic Fibrosis; Sickle cell anemia, which is a disease characterized by changes in the shape of red blood cells due to the presence of a mutation, with impaired oxygen transport and blood vessel obstruction. Understand what is and what the symptoms of sickle cell anemia; Intellectual disability, which corresponds to the delay in the child's cognitive and intellectual development, which can be perceived through the difficulty of concentration, learning and adaptation to different environments; Bone dysplasias, which is characterized by changes in the development of an organ or tissue that leads to the deformation of one or more bones, which may result in difficulty in locomotion, for example; Mucopolysaccharidosis, which is a rare genetic disease in which there is a change in the functioning of some enzymes in the body, leading to progressive symptoms related to bones, joints, eyes, heart and nervous system, for example; Congenital blindness, in which the child is born without being able to see.
Although there is an increased likelihood of risks associated with marriage between cousins, this does not always happen, and it is possible that close cousins have healthy children. However, whenever a consanguineous couple wishes to become pregnant, it is important that the risks are assessed by the doctor and the couple is monitored throughout the pregnancy.
What to do
In the case of marriage between close relatives, it is recommended that the couple consult a geneticist doctor in order to carry out genetic counseling to identify the possible risks that may happen in a possible pregnancy. Understand how genetic counseling is done.
It is during genetic counseling that the doctor analyzes the entire family tree of the couple and the genes, checking for the presence of recessive genes and the probability of the occurrence of mental, physical or metabolic diseases in the future child. If there is a risk of fetal changes, the couple must be accompanied in order to prepare them to care for the child according to their limitations.
