Intermarriage risks: Married cousins lose their fourth child in five years

RAWALPINDI:

In less than five years, Nasim Mirza has lost four children. Intermarriage (cousin marriage) was cited as the reason by doctors here on Sunday.

Mirza said he married his first cousin Asmat some 16 years back. Since then, they have had seven kids, four of whom — all boys — were disabled at birth. The other three, two daughters and a son, were born healthy.

After the death of the first baby, Asmat sought treatment from reputable hospitals in the country, family members said. It was eventually of no help, as each of the next three children fell victim to the same congenital disease.

They all suffered from hearing and mental disabilities, Mirza said. “The doctors told us that my beloved sons were incurable,” he added.

“Whenever the children felt pain, we were instructed by doctors to give them a few drops of medicine and let them rest,” Mirza said. Another family member said that the babies were “essentially expressionless”. Dr Sharif Astori at Polyclinic Hospital said that cousin marriages are to be blamed for such diseases.

A gynaecologist at the hospital told The Express Tribune that in such cases, chromosomal analysis is necessary to identify the disease. “It is necessary for parents to ensure better treatment to avoid such unfortunate situations,” she said. Responding to a question on the healthy siblings, she said that it was possible for some children to be born healthy despite the risks.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 14^th,  2011.