An Unabashed Free Spirit

We have another exclusive interview to bring you. 

People in consanguinamorous relationships are everywhere, though consanguinamorists tend to be closeted. Fortunately, some are willing to be interviewed for this blog. As a result, Full Marriage Equality has featured scores of exclusive interviews with lovers denied the freedom to marry and have that marriage treated equally under the law. Most can’t even be out of the closet or they’ll face persecution and prosecution under absurd incest laws, which, instead of focusing on abuse, also target consensual relationships.

The woman interviewed below should be free to legally and publicly marry her lovers, or simply be together without having to hide, yet they can’t. Prejudice can be deadly. They are consenting adults; why should they have been denied their rights? In much of the world, they could be criminally prosecuted for loving each other this way, and might be persecuted severely in addition.

Read the interview below and see for yourself what she has to say about the love they share. You may think this relationship is interesting, or it might make you uncomfortable, or you might find it ideal, even highly erotic, but whatever your reaction, should lovers like these be denied equal access to marriage or any other rights simply because they love each other this way?

Also please note that someone you love, respect, and admire could be in a similar relationship right now. Should they be attacked and denied rights because of the "incest" label? 

NOTE: This interview has some sexually explicit descriptions inherent to the interviewee’s life experience and the development of her philosophy.

*****

FULL MARRIAGE EQUALITY: Describe yourself.

Robin: My name is Robin. I’m 33, a single mother of two; my son and my daughter. We live in the southwest United States. I have one sibling, my brother, Mark, who is two years older than me. We run a successful family business that allows us to live comfortably. I enjoy time with my friends and, of course. my family.  

FME: Are you married or have you ever been legally and/or ceremonially married?

I am not married nor have I ever been. I don’t personally believe in marriage, but have no conflicts with those who do. My brother has never been married, either. 

FME: How would you describe your gender? How would you describe your sexual orientation and your relationship orientation... are you heterosexual, bisexual, what? Are you monogamous, polyamorous, or....?

I am female and I identify as female. I am bisexual, definitely nonmonogamous. 

Clearing Up Consanguinity

Many people get confused about terms like "second cousins" and "once removed" when referring to close but not-so-close relations. Your parent's sibling's child is your first cousin. That person's child would be your first cousin, once removed. That person's child and your child would be second cousins.

Here's a helpful chart that can help explain it.

Source: http://www.sanantonio.gov/atty/ethics/ConsanguinityChart.htm

Remember, there's nothing wrong with experimenting with, dating, or even marrying a cousin. Consanguineous relationships and marriages are nothing new. There are some countries and a little over half of US states where the bigotry against marriage equality extends to preventing first cousins from marrying, but there are many places where marrying a first cousin is legal and common. I'm only aware of a few US states where sex between first cousins is technically illegal, so check the laws of your state if you are concerned. It should be searchable on your official state website.

What Genealogists Know

With each previous generation you trace back, the maximum possible number of your genetic ancestors doubles. You can have 2 parents, up to 4 grandparents, up to 8 great-grandparents, up to 16 great-great-grandparents, etc.

On average, there are about four generations per century. For people born in the year 2000, their 8 great-great-grandparents were probably born around 1900. Sometime around 1800 their great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparents were born (there may be up to 128 of them). About 29 generations back, or roughly around the time of 1250-1300, the total number of your possible ancestors for that generation equals or exceeds the total population of the planet, which was about 500 million people.

What gives? Well, first of all, if all 500 million of those people were your ancestors, they would also be the ancestors of all of the rest of us, too.

Secondly, you probably don’t have every person alive back then as your ancestor. There wasn’t a lot of interracial or intercultural parenting going on back then. People were more isolated, more people lived in rural countrysides rather than dense urban areas, and people were not nearly as geographically or socially mobile as they are today. It was very common for a person to be born in and to die in the the same village or town, having lived all of her or his life there.

This means that for many, many, many, many generations, there was a lot of what most people would call today “inbreeding.” If your spouse wasn’t your first cousin, your spouse was likely a second or third cousin, or a second cousin-once removed, or even your double-cousin, etc. And as I’ve noted before, even if they weren’t marrying them, people were having children with siblings, aunts or uncles, etc. (Even if not having children together, what do you think went on, given that pubescent teens, like most children, were usually sharing a bedroom?) Not only did these things not destroy humanity, but in Europe, the Renaissance was birthed in these conditions.

Coming back to around 1800, very few people are likely to have 128 great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparents, just like very few of those people in 1800 had 128 of them in 1600. Because chances are, some of your recent ancestors were cousins, if not closer. If you marry your first cousin, you have no more than six genetic grandparents between you, instead of eight. If your parents are first cousins, you have six great-grandparents instead of eight.

If “inbreeding” was as detrimental as common misconception says, none of us would be here.

 

Tale as Old as Time

This blog is about relationship rights for all adults, especially the right to marry any and all consenting adults. It is not about criticizing nor promoting any philosophy towards religion, spiritual considerations, superstitions, the paranormal or supernatural, any religious text or writings/traditions/beliefs/practices/systems/organizations considered sacred, inspired, of authoritative by some, nor skepticism when it comes to such things.

There are both allies and opponents of relationship rights and full marriage equality in just about every religion and among those who claim no religion, and I welcome allies no matter what tradition, if any, they prefer or reject.

With that out of the way…

Considering the Bible as literature, which anyone can do whether they are a devout Christian, a Deist, a Hindu, an Atheist, or an Antitheist or take some other path, one can see that the Bible implies, outright portrays, and further addresses consanguineous sex.

Frequently, someone will ask “Where did Cain get his wife?” or “Did Adam and Eve’s children have sex with each other?” or some variation. Whether someone considers this speculation about fanciful myths or actual history is irrelevant to analyzing what the text itself says.

Adriana Chechik Is Not Alone

Dimitris Kouimtsidis reports at dailystar.co.uk...

Adriana Chechik, 31, who shattered vertebrae at TwitchCon in October last year after leaping off a platform following a jousting game, discussed her adult movie preferences on the Pillow Talk podcast, hosted by Ryan Pownall.

Known for her boldness when discussing sex, the OnlyFans content creator revealed that she's really into incest porn and described it as "hot".

A couple of things. 1) It's one of the most popular genres. 2) Like the rest of porn and media in general, reality is usually different.

She even went as far as to describe it as "normal", following its depiction in the hugely successful Game of Thrones TV show.

It is normal in the sense that it's highly popular and themes have been in media throughout history.

Ryan asked her: "You like weird s***?" Before Adriana replied: "Like hillbilly s***?"

The host then expanded: "Is what you watch illegal?" 

 

The 31-year-old explained: "I mean maybe like sometimes I look up incest."

Consanguinamory happens everywhere, and erotic media depicting it tends to reflect that. People who like such media are everywhere, too. They're not just hillbilles.

Her 4 million Instagram followers quickly flocked to the comment section to share their opinions, with one writing: "Step bro and sis ain't incest tho."

A second quipped: "Someone tag her brother", while a third added: "Reql Incest makes families strong and strengthens family ties she is one of the best P.S".

Affection is good.

A fourth said: "And you got weirded out when ur cousin said nice vids". 

 

That last comment refers to the revelation that one of Adriana's cousins told her he "loves watching her videos"

 

She said: "I had a cousin who texted me when I was two years into porn and he said 'oh man I love your s**t'." 

 

Ryan quickly interjected, asking her: "But he doesn't know you're cousins?" 

 

But Adriana called out the family member, adding that he knew full well the two were related. 

 

"No he knows we're cousins," she said. "He's 12 years older than me, but I'm from bumble f*** Pennsylvania. There's some white trash roots deep in my bloodline."

Anyone who models or performs online should assume they have relatives or family members who see it. Even old stuff from print magazines or VHS videos is now found online. It shouldn't be a problem. There's nothing wrong someone admiring their relative or their relative's performances.

But again, consanguinamory has been in every demographic and everywhere there have been people. It isn't limited to any one race, class, or overal lifestyle.

Twins and Double Cousins

Throughout history, it has been more common than present-day people in densely populated areas would think for, say, a man to marry a woman and then for that man's brother to marry that woman's sister. If the larger families get along, it can make a lot of sense. It gets more attention these days when the siblings are two sets of identical twins.

Becky Pemberton reported at the-sun.com on such a situation, which is more newsworthy because both couples had children within months of each other.

Brittany and Briana are identical twins who married identical twins Josh and Jeremy Salyers and then gave birth to babies within months of one another. 

 

They uploaded an Instagram post of their adorable sons Jett and Jax and said they are “Cousins, genetic brothers, and quaternary twins.”

When children are born to both of those married couples, those children are first cousins twice over to each other, or "double cousins." They are first cousins through their mothers, AND first cousins through their fathers. This is true whether or not the sisters are twins and whether or not the brothers are twins. Genetically, the double first cousins are like siblings to each other. Once they are grown, legally, those first cousins can marry in about half of US states and have sex in all but a handful of US states, whereas siblings can't legally marry in any of state and can legally have sex in only three. It's another example of how ridiculous the laws are, and another example of how genetic concerns are not the reason for unconstitutional bans on the consanguineous freedoms to sexuality and marriage.

Brittany and Briana met Josh and Jeremy at a festival for twins in 2017 and the Salyers blokes proposed six months later, following a whirlwind romance. 

 

They had a joint wedding on August 5, 2018, live in the same home in Virginia, US, and are now expanding their families together.

Twins, especially identical twins, can be very close, and as the article stated, these twins have done so much of life together, and they are living together. While the article does not say one way or the other, it isn't out of the range of possibility that this situation involves polyamory and consanguinamory. Either way, we wish them well.

Have you known of similar situations? Maybe you know of someone who ended up having marriages to more than one person from the same family? As always, feel free to comment below.

A Letter on Genealogy

A bump-up of an entry here, "What Genealogists Know," brought a letter from a woman who will remain anonymous. Here it is...


*****

Hi Keith, I am a woman, born about 1975 in the midwestern United States. I read your blog entry...about consanguinamory, reproduction and the number of one's ancestors and thought that I would chime in with my own anonymized family history. There are 24 of us who live in this area who share three surnames, 21 of us trace our ancestry here back to my great-great-grandparents who came over the mountains and down the river from Virginia around 1885. That first generation consisted of three couples. Two of the three surnames came from a pair of Scot-Irish families. Mr. A married Miss B and Mr. B married Miss C (making their children double cousins) and a second Mr. A married the daughter of one of their freed household slaves.  So the 24 of us are from one-quarter to one-sixteenth whatever percent of African heritage she was. In addition, 21 of us have Native American ancestry because the third surname came from an itinerant preacher of French Canadian ancestry whose wife was half English and half Seminole. This is advanced math, but I think I am thirteen-sixteenth Scot-Irish, a sixteenth each French Canadian and African and one thirty second each Seminole and English. But, as Arlo Guthrie said, “that is not what I came to tell you about. I came to talk about” consanguinamory, and in particular what the ill-informed refer to as “inbreeding.” Of the 24 people whom share three surnames here. Two are siblings. Twelve, including my pastor and my husband are my first-cousins. I am simultaneously second cousins with six of my twelve first cousins and have six other second cousins. All six of my second cousins are also simultaneously third cousins and the remaining six of the twenty four are my third cousins. I didn’t bother to chart fourth cousins, but we are probably all fourth cousins.  So by your account, were there no “inbreeding” I should have two parents, four grandparents, eight grandparents and sixteen great-grandparents. Obviously I have two parents, and like in your model I have four grandparents. But there the similarity ends. I have six (rather than eight) great-grandparents and eight (rather than sixteen) great-great-grandparents.  Those who’ve stayed, and many didn’t, are all farmers or they work in some field related to agriculture, education for, or ministering to farm families. Living in the unpolluted countryside, eating natural, mostly unprocessed foods and working at jobs where we get sunlight and exercise we are all pretty healthy. We also stay away from hospitals -- where grandpa says, “one goes to get sick” -- we live longer with fewer health complaints than the state or national average.  As a law abiding taxpayer I am rather miffed that the State of ____ thinks that it has the authority to use my tax dollars to engage in poorly planned social engineering through its Education and Public Health Departments falsely denigrating some of its citizens. “Inbreeding” doesn’t create genetic issues, it simply helps pass ones that already exist.  They don’t address the “real” issue at all, that certain persons in the population have genetic variations that can cause reproductive harm. That certain people have lifestyle behaviors or jobs that can expose them to genetic mutation or other reproductive harm. They don’t test anyone and they don’t assist anyone. It’s easier to espouse a disproven theory that fits their political agenda. My six great grandparents who lived here had ten children who reached adulthood. The next generation which included two newcomers produced twenty children who survived to adulthood, four of whom moved away. My parents' generation produced 30 children, all of whom lived to adulthood and 24 of whom currently live in the area. I know of five children in that extended family who died from disease or accident before reaching adulthood. All were in my grandparents and great-grandparents' generation, none since. But since 1860 nineteen children born to US presidents died of disease before their seventeenth birthdays, most recently two of John and Jackie Kennedy’s. I assume that all nineteen had the best medical care available. Things were just much more “iffy” in the past.

*****

Interesting. Thanks for the letter, Anonymous!

If  you want to comment on anything you see at this blog, you can comment, including anonymously, after most blog entries. You can also contact Keith. 

Cousins Changing States

This was left as a comment and it is a very important question for those of us in the US.

Can anyone offer insight on the case of 1st cousins who marry where it is legal and later move to a state where it is not. It would seem that the full faith and credit clause of the constitution would offer them protection. 

Article. IV. - Section. 1.
Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof.

From what we've seen from family law attorneys online, you appear to be correct, at least with certain states. I do want to remind you that I am not a lawyer or attorney, and I recommend checking with a family law attorney in the state to which you plan to move or have moved.

There is a chart on Wikipedia that indicates that some states will not recognize any first cousin marriages from other states, while some others will not recognize them if they are that state's residents who went to another state to get married. It seems to me this has to be unconstitutional based on many precedents.

It is important to note that a handful of US states criminalize sex between (unmarried) first cousins, and yes, people have been recently prosecuted. But it appears as though if you were legally married in one state (which can include "common law marriage" after living together a certain number of years) and move to one of those criminalizing states, you'd be OK.

There is an organization called Cousin Couples that could have answers.

Anyone with personal experience in these matters or who has practiced family law is encouraged to leave a comment.

Cousins, and any other consenting adults, should be free to be together, married or not, without fear of prosecution, bullying, or discrimination. This is why the US and every country needs full marriage equality and relationship rights for all adults.

Answering Questions

A few questions/comments relating to consanguinamory were asked and answered at this blog's sister Tumblr. 

The first was from someone who has a crush for a cousin.

The second was about the prevalence of incest porn.

The third was about Discredited Argument 20. 

Check them out, and bookmark/follow that Tumblr.

You can ask questions by commenting here or by contacting Keith. 

We Get Letters

Every once in a while we feature some of the correspondence we've received. We will never publish private information in which you are identified unless you give us permission. There are many ways to contact Keith, and of course you can comment on entries of this blog, including anonymously. 

These are from comments that were left on this blog. Only one has a "name" chosen by the person commenting. The rest are simply anonymous. 

This was left after an entry about how "incest" can be consensual and positive.

I was in a sexual relationship with my sister for six years through high school and starting college.

Sounds lovely!

It ended when my mother walked in on us. She was outraged and told us we had to stop or she would cut ties with us. She also forced us to keep it a secret.

That's too bad. The secrecy could have been for your own protection, but threatening you was a terrible thing to do.

We are also now both married (to other people) but meet up for time together when we can. I have never felt passion for a woman like I have for my beautiful sister, and it pains me that society forces us to be apart and to hide our relationship from the world and our family.

It's ridiculous that anyone would have to hide their love.

In a modern world, with birth control, there is no need for these antiquated ideals.

With genetic screening and modern science, we're in a much better situation than the past.

I have never talked about this before - with anyone - and it feels truly incredible to share it. Even if it has to be anonymously.

That's one of the great things about this blog. People can share! You won't get judged. We celebrate the beauty of consanguineous love.

A Cousin Considering Marriage Writes in to Dear Abby

A recent divorcee who is contemplating a new marriage possibility wrote as SECRET LOVE IN THE SOUTH to Dear Abby...

We bonded when he contacted me to offer support after he heard about my divorce, and it was love at "second" sight. Why "second"? Because we grew up together -- literally next door -- and he's my first cousin.

Despite the societal taboo, it is legal in my state for first cousins to marry, and genetic issues with offspring aren't a concern. We're both sterile and have no ability (or desire) for more children.

There's no reason why this should be a problem for anyone.

My siblings suspect and aren't pleased with the situation. His parents know and are happy for us.

There's no good reason for the siblings to have a problem with this.

How do we break it to the rest of the family? The world? People can be so judgmental, even though in many parts of the world it is perfectly normal to marry your cousin.

The rest of the family probably knows already. Since this wouldn't be a first marriage, perhaps it could be a smaller ceremony? Since there is no legal issue, I'd announce it in the same way you would if it was someone who isn't a close relative. If other people have a problem with it, then they don't have to come to the wedding, right? 

Abby advised slowing down a bit. Thankfully, she didn't express anticonsanguinamorous bigotry.

Of course there are some terrible comments from prejudiced bigots. It's a good thing this letter made the column, though. We need more representation of consanguinamory. Let consenting adults marry!

Do Siblings Experiment Sexually?

Yes. Some do. (Especially right now!)

That was a search that brought someone here lately, and similar searches have brought many people here. Some recent ones include...

Is it common for siblings to touch 

I had sex with a sibling 

sexual exploration among siblings 

siblings touching other siblings

Siblings (and cousins) do explore and experiment with each other, from "show me yours and I'll show you mine" and "playing doctor" and everything beyond that. Some start as children, some as young teens, some as young adults, and some try it out much later.

This has always gone on, in every society in history, and it is very common.

The Dynamics of Cousin Relationships

Cousin relationships are on the edge of the issues addressed by this blog, facing somewhat less prejudice than relationships of closer relatives. Widely different laws from place to place and much ignorance and prejudice linger even as many places accept these relationships. In about half of US states, genetic first cousins (your parent's sibling's child is your first cousin) can legally marry. There are a few states with laws against consensual sex between first cousins, including North and South Dakota, Utah, Texas, Nevada, Kentucky, and Mississippi. The states that neither marry nor criminalize will generally allow first cousins to be together without marriage, as second-class citizens. There is much confusion and ignorance about these matters, so even people who are generally educated might not be aware that first cousins can legally marry, or might be unaware that people are actually thrown into prison for loving each other.

In the US, there is a false notion that marriages between first cousins in a Southern thing, but the varying state laws do not support that idea. Rather, these relationships exist in every region and in every class.

Same-Gender Marriage and Consanguinamory in the US

Gay marriage (or same-sex marriage, or most accurately same-gender marriage) and consanguinamory (romantic and/or erotic love between close relatives) are usually (but not always) two different things.

As of this posting, there are people fretting that allowing more consenting adults their freedom to marry is going to result in... even more consenting adults having the freedom to marry! Oh, the horror! Because the limited monogamous same-gender freedom to marry is now legal nationwide in the US, some people are asking if people in consanguineous relationships (or adult consensual incest) are going to have their rights and be treated like, you know, people.

Please note everything we're discussing here is about consensual sex and relationships between adults. We're not talking about rape or molestation.


In the US, the bigotry against marriage equality is rapidly losing out. We recently had the Supreme Court decide for the nationwide limited monogamous same-gender freedom to marry. The denial of marriage equality still currently extends to preventing first cousins from marrying in a little over half of the states. If you consider cousin marriage incestuous, then the remaining states, which allow marriages between first cousins (some with ridiculous restrictions) are where same-gender first cousins can enter into monogamous same-gender "incestuous" marriage.

Utah Needs Full Marriage Equality

And so does every other state. For now, we'll address the discrimination in Utah.

Caitlin O'Kane reports at cbsnews.com...

Two cousins who say they are in love with each other have created an online petition calling for the state of Utah to allow them to get legally married. "My first cousin and I have been in love with each other our whole lives but we are prohibited from marrying in the state of Utah where we live," Angela Peang writes in the petition. "We believe that the law is outdated and it needs to be changed so that we can socially legitimize our love."

Of course! There is a fundamental right to marry. An adult should be free to marry any and all consenting adults.

The couple's goal is to get 1,000 signatures; as of Wednesday morning, about 75 have signed on. Peang told CBS News she's loved her cousin, Michael Lee, since she was in second grade. Peang's father is the oldest of 12 children; his sister, the fifth child in that family, is Lee's mother. 

"We just always played a lot," Peang remembered of her childhood interactions with Lee. "We went into a closet and we were kissing and dancing together. It just felt really natural."

I think they've proven their love. There is no good reason to continue to deny them, or any other adults seeking to marry, their rights.

"He told my mom he was going to marry me," Peang said. Her mom told Michael they couldn't get married but they could be friends. Each time they saw each other at family functions the connection between them stayed strong. The cousins were caught kissing once by family members, Peang remembered. "We got in trouble," she said. "After that we were kind of kept apart."

It's sad how bigotry causes even family members to do stupid things.

Simple and Quick Clarification on Consanguinamory and Having Children

At lehmiller.com we found "Kissing Cousins: How Does Incest Affect The Health of Offspring" and we wanted to share what it says.

In a nutshell, inbreeding increases the odds of rare genetic disorders because the more closely related two people are, the more likely it is that they’ll both be carriers of the same recessive genes, which gives these genes a chance of pairing up.

However, it’s important to note that even if both parents are carriers of disorder-linked recessive genes, odds are that their offspring will not develop the disorder. In other words, while inbreeding increases this risk, it’s not guaranteed.

Emphasis ours. The fact is, most children born to close relatives are healthy. It's also important to remember that consanguinamory and inbreeding aren't the same thing, though inbreeding can result from consanguinamory.

Then the blog has a YouTube video from ASAP Science on the topic.

For more, please see our entry on Consanguinamory and Reproduction and this entry for consanguinamorists considering parenting.

Jane's Latest Survey

If you are strongly attracted to one or more close relatives and it's NOT a reunion situation in which you didn't have much contact with them while you were grown up, but rather they've been in your life all along or most of the time, Jane's latest survey is for you. Please take it.

The Royal We

A discussion was underway at theroyalforums.com about "Incestuous Royal Marriages." This blog has noted such things before.
 
Kataryn started off the discussion YEARS ago...

Legally Catherine of Aragon was married incestually because she as widow of one brother married the other after the first hausband's death.

That's not considered incest in most definitions.

But that's just a formality. History has shown that Royal families did not hesitate to form very close bonds between them. While a marriage of cousin and cousin happened quite often, marriages between unles and nieces are rare - but they happened, too.

One example is the marriage of Antoinette Marie of Wuerttemberg to Ernst I. of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Marie's mother Antoinette of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld was the sister of the groom.

Then there are the three uncle-niece marriages of the Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs:

- Philipp II. married Anna of Austria, the daughter of his sister Marie.

- Archduke Charles II of Austria-Innerösterreich married Maria Anna of Bavaria, daughter of his sister Anna of Austria.

- Philipp IV. married Marianna of Austria, daughter of his sister Maria Anna.

As you can see, the last three uncle-niece-marriages happened in the House of Habsburg between 1550 and 1660 in the direct line leading to Philipp IV. of Spain and his wife Marianna of Austria. Their child is the sad, sick Don Carlos of Schillerian fame...

Not 100 years later, the House of Habsburg ended in the male line. But of course the marriage of Maria Theresia of Austria to Francis Stephan of Lorraine brought new blood into the family..

As I understand it, uncle-niece marriages are allowed in some places in deference to religious traditions.

We Get Letters

We get comments on the blog. Most we publish, a few we do not. The ones we don't publish have usually violated something stated in the instructions on commenting seen immediately above where you can leave your comment after any specific page or entry.

This one wasn't published because of the f-bomb. It was left after this entry.

This article it's a f---ing masterpiece. It shows how stupid are the moralists and it's arguments. In my opinion, the best place where I put the line it's: Consensual and healthy relations between adult persons.

Thanks!

Then there was one that required a little more editing. It was left after this entry.

Since everyone is sharing their stories I will share mine.

[Goes on to say when he was young a female cousin two years older than him played around together but never had intercourse, and that this went on for a year or three.]

Now I am 22 years old. Sometimes when I think of my cousin, this experience pops into my head. Obviously, when I see her nowadays we never talk about it. Everything is normal between us like it never happened. Nothing is awkward and she is a great cousin.

That's good. That sort of thing isn't seen as problematic as when there is some sort of coercion or pressure involved. It is very common for siblings and cousins close in age to experiment while young.

There were also plenty of comments that we did publish. Here are some.

Casting Call For Cousins

Cheryl Hockey, Assistant Producer, Sugar Films http://sugarfilms.co.uk/ is looking for cousins in relationships with each other.

I'm working on a documentary about cousin marriage for a British broadcaster.  As I'm sure you know, marrying your cousin is legal in Britain.  It is still fairly popular among the British Pakistani community here and the documentary will follow a young woman, from this community, who's considering the possibility of marrying one of her cousins.

On her journey she is keen to meet cousin couples from all different communities, and possibly countries.  She understands there is often a taboo around this topic, especially in other communities, so hopes it will raise awareness and also help to reduce prejudice around cousin relationships/marriage.

All initial conversations would be confidential and by people getting in touch with us it wouldn't commit them to taking part in any filming.

She says the best way to contact her is via her email or her office number:

cheryl@sugarfilms.co.uk /
00 44 2031464533

As always, we advise careful consideration as it would be great to have increased visibility and media representation, but if you've been closeted there may be some risks, and of course you don't have control over how consanguineous relationships will be portrayed in the finished production.