Excerpt:
The high level of marriage between blood relatives within the Pakistani community accounts for nearly a third of birth defects in babies of Pakistani origin, a study shows.
Cousins who marry run double the risk of birth defects in their children, says the largest study of its kind in the Asian community.
The Bradford research found that up to six out of 100 babies born to parents in the city who are blood relations have birth defects, compared with three in 100 of those who have not inter-married.