1st cousins marry

[Limeoutsider]

ALTOONA, Pa. - First cousins who were denied a marriage license by a Pennsylvania judge earlier this month were wed in a civil ceremony in Maryland, the couple said Monday.



Tonight Show host Jay Leno and conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh both commented about the story after Blair County Judge Jolene Kopriva refused to marry Eleanor Amrhein, 46, and Donald W. Andrews Sr., 39, of Logan Township.


The couple petitioned the judge March 14, three days after a court clerk refused to marry them after learning they were first cousins. The couple's mothers are sisters. But they hoped the judge would grant an exception to the Pennsylvania law, which was meant to prevent birth defects and other problems caused by marriage of close relatives, by telling the judge they didn't plan to have children.


"Everybody thought I should be ashamed of it," Amrhein said. "I am not."


Amrhein has no children; Andrews has three to other women.


Andrews grew up in the South, but became close to Amrhein when he visited Pennsylvania for family gatherings when they were children.


"I started coming up here hanging out with mom's side of the family," Andrews told The Mirror of Altoona for Tuesday's editions. "I didn't seek her out. She didn't seek me out. But all along, there was something that clicked."


Seven years ago, the cousins met up again and they've been together for several years now.


"You can't control who you fall in love with," Andrews said.


About half of the states allow first cousins to marry, according to stateline.org, a research site on state laws.

 

[Mitchell]

I dont know if I should be posting this, because it is a family secret, but as it happened 100 years ago, and all parties involved are now deceased, I figure there isnt any harm. This happened in my family. My paternal grandfather's parents, Abraham, and Jenny, were first cousins, and married. My grandfather was a nice guy, but he did have a birth defect which he never talked about, that my parents, and my grandmother, told me was due to the fact that his parents were such close relatives. My grandfather had strange bumps all over his arms, which the family privately insisted was due to a birth defect stemming from his parents being first cousins. My father, Alan, is named after his grandfather Abraham.
I dont know if the law was different 100 years ago. I do know that my grandfather's parents immigrated from Russia, but I'm not sure if the marriage took place there, and then they immigrated, or if they married here. His family history is very hazy to me. All I do know is that his parents were definitely first cousins, and that it was a big family secret, something he never even discussed with me. As to the law of the first cousins not being allowed to marry, and this case, I think I understand why they have that law.

Mitch

 

[Oddjob0226]

It's not that big a deal.... wait awhile and they'll get divorced just like everyone else!

 

[Knox The Hatter]

Royalty's notorious for this. Mary Stuart, the celebrated "Mary, Queen Of Scots", and her second husband, Robert, Lord Darnley, both shared a common grandmother- Margaret Tudor, the eldest sister of Henry VIII. One son came from that marriage: James VI, who later succeeded Elizabeth on the English throne as James I. Judging by him and his progeny, it provides significant evidence against the wisdom of unions like this.

 

[sole seeker]

Andrews grew up in the South, but became close to Amrhein when he visited Pennsylvania for family gatherings when they were children.

In the words of Jeff Foxworthy -

If you attend family reunions in order to meet women... you might be a redneck!

(No offense meant)

 

[Oddjob0226]

If half the states let cousins marry, is this really all that newsworhty, or even shocking? How 'bout that Portia Del Rossi/Ellen Degeneres committment - now that's something! Shoot, I had a few cousins in my family, and even an aunt or two, that might have made good wifely stock.

 

[chickles_:)]

Hiya

Interesting topic.

As some of you know, weddings are my thing. And i can assure you that in many jurisdictions in many western countries today the restrictions on blood (or, curiously, adoptive) relatives marrying is limited only to vertical family members to within two generations,(grand-relative, parent-child, sybling relations).

By contrast, in other parts of the world cousins may marry if their parents were not the same gender. ie i could marry the son of my mother's brother but not of my mother's sister.

And let's not forget the requirement in some places where the prospective bride and groom must first take a compatibility blood test. If the test shows that they are too close then no marriage is allowed.

And what about the increasing number of jurisdictions that are allowing same-sex marriage?

All i mean is that while it is kind of interesting that such close family relations may tie the knot, i can honestly say that there are a way-whole bunch of legal and moral views on the matter in this big round world of ours. 😀
And for many people that's a wonderful thing. I guess it's how we all get to seeing things from different perspectives.

Many blessings,
Chickles_🙂