Consanguineous Marriage in Global Perspective: Anthropological Roots, Genetic Risks, Contemporary Relevance, and the Way Forward

ABSTRACT: Consanguineous marriage—defined as unions between biologically related individuals, typically first or second cousins—has been a culturally embedded practice across diverse societies for millennia. Drawing on publicly available sources, the study seeks to review both regional and global perspectives of consanguineous marriage across time and space. Rooted in anthropological traditions of kinship and alliance, these unions historically served functions such as preserving lineage, consolidating property, ensuring social trust, and reinforcing group identity. Anthropological scholarship, from Morgan’s kinship classifications to Lévi-Strauss’s alliance theory, situates cousin marriage as a structured and rational social strategy rather than a random or anomalous choice. Contemporary practices, however, are shaped by complex intersections of tradition, religion, gender, and modernity. While biomedical research consistently associates consanguinity with increased risks of congenital disorders, pregnancy wastage, and mental health conditions, many communities continue to view it as beneficial for kin solidarity, economic security, and marital stability. Global prevalence remains heterogeneous: highly normative in South Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa, declining in parts of India and North Africa, and largely absent in Western societies except among diasporas. Recent transformations—including urbanization, women’s education, migration, digital matchmaking, and premarital genetic screening—have shifted perceptions, particularly among youth. Ethnographic accounts highlight tensions between generational expectations and individual autonomy, revealing ambivalence and negotiation rather than outright rejection. This review underscores consanguinity as a dynamic institution at the intersection of anthropology, genetics, religion, and public health. Rather than framing it solely as a biomedical risk or a cultural relic, it should be understood as a multifaceted practice continually redefined in response to social, economic, and political change.