The U.S. is the only western country with cousin marriage restrictions. I don't think there are any European countries that prohibit marriage between cousins either.

People think that you take after your parents, which is false.

Genetically, a person takes on 1 chromosome from a grandparent on the mothers side, and 1 chromosome from a grandparent on the fathers' side.

You are either a result of

• Your mother's father / Your father's father

• Your mother's father / Your father's mother

• Your mother's mother / Your father's father

• Your mother's mother / Your father's mother

In straight math, it works out to be 12.5% chance of being unlucky enough to end up with conceiving a child with genes from parent A's grand parent & parent B's grandparent's sibling. But I think there are other factors that make it much less than that.

Due to my grandfather being separated from his siblings & put up for adoption back in the 20s, by a chance of fate this happened with my uncle and aunt, who met in college. They found out about it much after the fact, when the family tree was being done. By then they had two, normal & healthy children. Since In Canada its legal to marry your first cousin, they're still together.

Still, the thought of hooking up with someone you meet at a family reunion is a bit on the creepy side.

The first girl I ever had a crush on in grade 7 turned out to be my 2nd cousin.

"Ha! Your uncles' name is Florida. So weird, my dad has an Uncle Flor.. ..ahhhh...dammit.."