Grim reality of sleeping with your cousin and horror risks that sparked ban

A woman who and had a baby with her has following his sad death. Angie Peang was when Michael Lee passed away following a drug overdose after their complicated romance, which began when the pair "kissed in a closet" during their childhood.

Angela, whose dad is the older brother of Lee's mum, said when they defiantly broke the news of their relationship.

Michael, who was a car salesman, died just 14 months after the couple welcomed their baby son Eric. Speaking in an interview this week, Angie said: "There are other normal people out there who, like we did, just happen to find themselves in love with their cousin at a time and place where it's not popular or accepted.

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"It helps me cope with Michael's death by sharing our love story. I don't feel like I'm just one isolated, perverted weirdo. We get to be a part of this thing that's so big and out of the ordinary and so special and so rare."

Angie and Michael launched a petition to have marriage among first cousins legalised in . When this failed, they decided to tie the knot in Colorado - one of the 18 states where there are no legal restrictions to the marriage of cousins.

She and Michael were from a conservative Mormon family in Eagle Mountain in Utah, which is less than 40 miles from Salt Lake City.

First cousin marriage is illegal in 24 US states, but it is allowed in the UK - although medical experts have long called for a ban. But apart from the societal judgements, why are cousins discouraged from being intimate?

Risks of inbreeding

Inbreeding refers to the mating of individuals who are closely related by ancestry. This practice runs counter to the biological purpose of reproduction, which is to promote genetic diversity through the mixing of DNA.

Human DNA is organised into 23 pairs of chromosomes, and each chromosome contains hundreds of thousands of genes. Each gene has two versions, called alleles, which determine everything from physical traits - like hair and eye colour - to biological factors such as blood type.

Genes are categorised as either dominant or recessive. If one allele in a gene pair is dominant, its traits will typically be expressed. However, for a trait linked to a recessive allele to appear, both alleles must be recessive.

This becomes significant when considering genetic disorders. Many congenital conditions and inherited diseases, such as cystic fibrosis, are carried by recessive alleles.

Inbreeding increases the likelihood that both parents carry the same recessive genes, raising the chances that these traits will be passed on to their children. A 2011 study found that children born from first cousin unions face a significantly higher risk of neonatal and childhood death - nearly doubling in some regions.

The latest data, published by the UK's University of Bradford in February, has established that children born to first cousins are twice as likely to carry recessive disorders as those born to unrelated parents. That's a rate of 6 percent to the rest of the population's three percent. They are also more likely to experience speech and learning difficulties and have poorer developmental outcomes.

Angie says her son Eric was thankfully born with no complications.

It it incest?

Incest is defined as sexual activity with a member of your immediate family. This can encompass a parent, son, daughter, sibling (including half-siblings), grandparent or grandchild.

In England and Wales, the Sexual Offences Act 2003 created an offence of familial sexual abuse (this is covered in in the 2009 Sexual Offences Act, and in Northern Ireland in the Sexual Offences Order 2008).

The aim of this law was to protect children up to the age of 18 from any form of activity that a person would consider sexual or indecent.

The offender may be an adult or another child. It recognises the modern family unit and it defines familial sexual abuse as being between a person and their parent (including adoptive or foster), grandparent, child, grandchild, sibling or half-sibling, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece.

According to the , even if both parties consent, incest is a criminal offence. Consent cannot be given by a child under the age of 13 and in this case the maximum sentence that can be given is life imprisonment. If the person is over the age of 13, the maximum sentence that can be given is seven years.