Cousin marriage

Cousin marriage is marriage between people with a common grandparent or between people who share another relatively recent ancestor. Such marriages range from being considered ideal and actively encouraged, to being uncommon but still legal, to being seen as incestuous and legally prohibited. Such marriages are largely stigmatized in the Western world, but they remain relatively common in the Middle East, where they account for over half of all marriages in some nations. Worldwide, more than one in every ten marriages is between first and second cousins.