NHS trust describes cousin marriages as ‘cultural practice’ and compares it to ‘white women having children over 34 years old’

An NHS Trust has compared marriage between first cousins to white women having children over the age of 34.

Material drawn up by Bradford health chiefs in 2022 describes cousin marriages as a “cultural practice” and likens it to white women and couples starting families later.

It claims that this is because of “liberal values such as preferring jobs, careers, bodily fitness and individualism.”

It comes after the Born in Bradford study found that cousin marriage accounts for about 30 per cent of birth defects, with research from 13,500 families also found that 19 per cent of Bradford babies born with birth defects had mothers over the age of 34.

The material states: “At this point, it is important to mention that just like a cousin marriage is a cultural practice in Asian/British Pakistanis heritage, resulting in increasing risk factors for congenital anomalies, so too is choosing to give birth at or after the age 34 in White British women/couples.

“This is largely a result of choosing lifestyles embedded in liberal values such as preferring jobs, careers, bodily fitness and individualism over giving birth before the age 34.”

It comes after Independent MP Iqbal Mohamed drew outrage after voicing opposition against calls to ban first-cousin marriage in the UK, and suggested “advanced genetic test screening” is made available to prospective couples.

The MP for Dewsbury and Batley said rather than “stigmatising” cousin marriages, a “much more positive approach” should be adopted to respond to health concerns linked to the children of those relationships.

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Downing Street has now indicated the Government had no plans to ban marriages between first cousins despite the health risks.

A No 10 spokesman said: “I think the expert advice on the risks of first-cousin marriage are clear. But in terms of legislation, the Government has set out its priorities.”

Meanwhile, a study published last year suggested that the number of people in Bradford’s Pakistani community who have married a cousin fell sharply in the past 10 years.

Higher educational attainment, new family dynamics and changes in immigration rules are thought to be possible reasons.

A 2019 report by the West Yorkshire city’s child death overview panel found that consanguineous relationships led to deaths from genetic and congenital abnormalities.

The report, published annually by Bradford children’s safeguarding board, reviewed 69 child deaths. These included 29 that occurred in 2017-18, 33 in 2016-17, and seven that took place in previous years.

More than two-thirds of these deaths, 67 per cent, involved children under the age of one, most of whom died within 28 days.

Children of south Asian heritage were overrepresented in the figures compared with the population of the Bradford district, according to the report, with 45 (65 per cent) of the children being of south Asian background.