The disturbing proportion of families in the US impacted by incest

Incest is poised to become prohibited by law in the UK, with a new bill in Parliament aiming to ban marriage between cousins due to various risks of birth defects.

But the US has no federal blanket ban on the books. Instead, of first cousin marriage is decided by individual states — and 19 still allow it.

Figures suggest about 250,000 Americans are married to their first or second cousins, according to older statistics, and some experts say the number is rising.

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