The connection a person shares with their family is one of strong convictions and personal bonds that can last a lifetime. But sometimes we love members of our family a little too much. Could you ever fall in love with a family member, and if you could how distantly related would this family member have to be?

Does it have to be a third cousin, or even farther back to fourth, fifth, or sixth? How many times do you feel like dipping in and and out, in and out of the genetic pool, before saying,"Am I doing something wrong?". Would those family functions be a little awkward when your grandpa somehow becomes your nephew in little over 10 years?

So please list some interesting situations that you have encountered or would be interesting in encountering and the feelings of taboo, regret and self embarrassment that comes with the territory of being with your own sister.

Well, not on purpose. Our family bond is not that strong on one side...

But when I was going out I met a girl, we started talking...you know the saturday night stuff....we liked each other...until we found out she was a cousin of me...

We were laughing and immediately said: god thanks we know it before something happens...

Well in WV, its legal to marry your 3rd cousin.

However, I'm afraid I wouldn't ever do that.

There's a church where I'm from where they have arranged marraiges, and they're all within the church. When I was little I went to school with a lot of the kids from there, and I used to wonder why they were all 'cousins'. Now I know.

Uhm, I don't know the situation, but I think you would at least know how your cousing looks like, no?

Not exactly. I have cousins on my father's side of the family I've never met. My father's been dead 18 years and I haven't seen any of his family since the funeral. Not all families spend holidays and weddings together. I have a cousin on my mom's side who I probably haven't seen since I was 10 years old.

But I do have a cousin Nicky who is fiiiiiiiiiiiiiine.

Probably third cousin, anything closer than that is just weird and even third cousin is kinda pushing it.

I just know my first cousins. I don't even know if I have any second and farther cousins. I think I am okay with second cousin mentally, but medically it is dangerous if you plan to have kids. Incest is a taboo for a good reason!

am I the only one who noticed that he mentioned being with your sister specifically?

can someone explain me how one's grandpa will become a nephew
Mista, I actually missed that sentence. sister = strict NO NO.

Mobb, if you were my brother I'd sleep with you!

Uhm, I don't know the situation, but I think you would at least know how your cousing looks like, no? [/b][/quote]Not at that time...I met her for the first time in lets say 10 years...

Who constitutes what is weird and what is acceptable?

What is weird? This is weird:

[/b][/quote]Because you were brought up to think that? Because of tradition? Because of biological fact that states incest is "weird" or "wrong"?

Why?

Because of biological fact that states incest is "weird" or "wrong".

Sorry, I meant to put speech marks around fact too.

Like: Because of biological "fact" that states incest is "weird" or "wrong".

Why isn't it a fact?

Hey, hey, if you're a dude and you get it on with your sister or vice versa and she gets pregnant, won't the kid have much greater chances of having birth defects? Not to mention, the whole Oedipal issues that the kid will face if he/she does make it past a year. I believe this is why incest is frowned upon in Western culture (and most others that I know of) at least, and that's why I would say that even with a third cousin it would be kinda weird but probably ok. With a cousin or second cousin it would be abnormal, to ME at least.

Actually if you are from a family with no defected genes, incest would lead to perfection. In the cases, where there are defected genes in a family, pairing these genes would result to a birth defect. For example, if there is a defected gene that could result to diabetes in a person, in case of insect there is a strong chance that this gene pairs up with another defected gene and result in a child suffering from diabetes. Of course, this could happen to the children of any two people whose defected genes matches; therefore there are certain genetic tests before marriage in some countries to reduce the birth defect rates. So if a family with perfect gene pattern inbreeds, there would be no hereditary problem with their future generation unless their gene pattern have a sudden change, that can happen to any specie.

When I was a child I had a crush on my first cousin and I felt he reciprocated. Special vibes, I guess, and all that stuff. We never even talked about it, still we have always been special to one another. We still are in a sort of way. Special to one another. I confess somewhere in the back of my mind I'm jealous of him. Thanks God he never married. I think I could have hardly stood it. :rolleyes:

So, yes. These things happen. I personally know a married couple and they are first cousins. And BTW they have two wonderful children. But, of course, brother and sister is a totally different matter.

Because it is an opinion.

I feel like if you have a baby with someone and it comes out with physical or mental deformities, because you're related to the person you had sex with, then that may be an indication that it is a biological fact that what you are doing is wrong.

I have two cousins, one first one second. It's absolutely impossible for me to imagine, how possibly one can see them as lovers. Maybe that's because I'm Orthodox. Never thought of them this way, really.

So then it would all depend on the situation. If the baby is born deformed, then it was wrong. If not, then it wasn't?

Deformation doesn't necessarily mean "wrong", does it?

Well, this was even more true in the early 1900s and earlier, but I know the Royal families in Europe have a history of hemophelia, because they're all... um... related. Well... "extra" related. You catch my drift.

Ask Glenn Hoddle!

Because it is an opinion. [/b][/quote]When two relatives (eg brother and sister) have a child, chances are higher of having a not normally functioning/deformed child. Not very fun for the child, and for the parents. When they do want to have a child, it can be seen as "weird" and not very thoughtful, IMO. Whether it's "wrong" is another discussion.

I presume that the fact we think incest is weird comes from the human biology. Clearly we just know, from birth on, that incest has it's risks. What you seemed to point out as a cultural thing, is just our biologic alarm that is cultivated and generally accepted.