Written by: Shiraz Aslam
Posted on: June 16, 2025 | 
Cousin marriages are very prevalent in Pakistan.
Marrying your cousin is far from an uncommon occurrence in Pakistan. In several households, it is a custom entrenched in family tradition. The concept of “watta satta”- simultaneous union of a brother-sister pair from two families- is rampant in Punjab. Indeed, statistics indicate that consanguinity is endemic in Pakistan with nearly half of ever-married women wed to their first cousins.
Watta satta has become a custom in Punjab to strengthen family alliances.
Pakistan has one of the highest rates of cousin marriages. The developed world has largely moved away from the idea of marrying within the family, but consanguinity is still prevalent in our beloved state. The reality is that consanguinity is a double-edged sword. While it may be a secure union in accordance with religious and cultural systems, it is also associated with a variety of genetic and hereditary diseases.
The detrimental effects of cousin marriages are closely tied to the phenomenon of inbreeding. Mating within a closely related set of individuals reduces genetic variation within a population, increasing the chances of potentially harmful genes being passed down to future generations. A variety of common inherited disorders like Thalassemia and Sickle Cell Anemia can consequently become widespread in a certain population.
Cousin marriages increase the likelihood of inherited diseases like Thalassemia.
However, this shouldn’t be taken to mean that all progeny in such populations will be affected or diseased, but the probability increases significantly. Most individuals are carriers of harmful genes, meaning that they carry the trait, but do not exhibit the features. A homogenous pool of genes increases the chances of these harmful genes being expressed in a closely knit community.
Consanguinity has lost favor in the West, but it remains endemic in Pakistan. The exceptionally high percentage of cousin marriages in our country demands explanation. In an article published on The Population and Development Review, three important sets of marriages help explain the great frequency of cousin marriages: high fertility rates, sluggish economic development and intensive kin networks.
Consanguinity may increase the pool of harmful genes in the population.
A high fertility maintains a large pool of first cousins within a large family network. This helps perpetuate a cycle of inbreeding which allows the practice of first cousin marriages to persevere through generations. Lower fertility rates in neighboring states could have undermined consanguinity. Pakistan has an agro-based economy, where intensive kinship system predominates to ensure economic and social cooperation. In such networks, cousin marriages inculcate mutual support in agriculture, enhance family alliances, maintain land ownership, and consolidate wealth. Marrying outside the family could lead to dispersal of economic and financial resources, while distributing them within an intensive kinship system could concentrate wealth within a larger family unit. On the other hand, extensive kinship systems, where individuals are less financially dependent on the family unit, are associated with modern market-based economies characteristic of Western countries. Hence, marrying within the family is not the norm in the West because there is little economic incentive.
The scope for genetic screening is limited in Pakistan.
It is intriguing to note that urbanization, usually spearheaded by industrial and market-based economies, could contribute to a decline in consanguinity. Educated women and higher social status are also associated with lower cousin marriages. Therefore, marriage patterns can evolve with changes in the economic structure of Pakistan.
Nonetheless, the potential role of religious interpretations cannot be understated in the spread of consanguinity in Pakistan. The Islamic faith permits cousin marriages. Hence, religion can be used as a convenient justification for marrying blood relatives. However, contrary to the common understanding, many Islamic scholars believe that the practice is not actively encouraged by the faith owing to the possibilities of weaker children. Hindus have also shared similar practices as part of their traditional caste system, but more modern perspectives are pervading India.
Religion has been used as an excuse to justify cousin marriages in Pakistan
The potential drawbacks of first-blood marriages are compounded by a lack of social awareness and meagre screening resources to detect potential genetic disorders. For a country with high rates of illiteracy, the practices of screening procedures and genetic tests are likely to be seen as unIslamic. Secondly, if an inherited disorder is discovered upon investigation, the option of abortion raises another set of ethical issues.
Consanguineous couples should receive appropriate genetic counselling to aid safe family planning.
In conclusion, consanguinity needs to be discussed within the wider socioeconomic and religious contexts. Radical measures, e.g. a permanent ban or mandatory screening are likely to be met with extensive criticism, but awareness should be raised on all frontiers. Families with a history of inherited diseases like Thalassemia ought to receive appropriate expert guidance. Nevertheless, marriage remains a choice among individuals and communities at the end. External factors, including the threat of disease, death and infirmity, may limit the options available, but do not remove all autonomy. However, the government and health organizations should ensure an acceptable degree of awareness to empower the average Pakistani with the capacity to make an informed decision.
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