It is a mandatory requirement of Chinese law that close relatives cannot marry, and the main purpose of prohibiting close relatives from marrying is to reduce the risk of genetic diseases caused by imperfect development of the next generation. Close relatives means that there is a direct blood relationship or a common ancestor within three generations, and if they marry each other, it is called consanguineous marriage.
1. Scope of next of kin
The prohibition of marriage of close relatives refers to the prohibition of marriage between direct blood relatives and collateral blood relatives within three generations, direct blood relatives refers to the various generations of blood relatives who bear their own children or have their own children, and collateral blood relatives refers to the blood relatives who do not have a direct reproductive relationship between the two parties but share the same ancestor.
Second, the harm of consanguineous marriage
1. Harm to individual families
For the sake of eugenics, consanguineous marriage is not allowed. Every normal person may carry 5 to 6 harmful recessive genes, and the probability of causing harmful genes will be higher if the next generation is married, and the risk of developing a variety of genetic diseases and developmental abnormalities will be increased.
Because the children of close relatives are prone to defects, it is easy to lead to abortion, stillbirth, congenital death and so on. Due to genetic problems, children of close marriage have a greater risk of disease, and common diseases are albinism, low reproductive ability, dementia, etc., which is undoubtedly a great harm to a family.
2. Harm to social development
Young people are a creative generation, and a healthy body is a prerequisite for all actions. However, marriage between Cousins increases the risk of disease in the offspring, damages the dividend of a large population, affects the overall population quality of the society, and adds a burden to social development.