Is cousin marriage legal in Kentucky?

KENTUCKY ( FOX 56 ) — Should two consenting adults be allowed to marry if they share a family tree? Well, different states say different things.

Consanguineous marriages, or marriages between family members of second cousins or closer, have happened all throughout history and all over the globe, but worries about the risks of inbreeding have led to the topic being a bit of a taboo.

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It is a mostly modern issue; in 1946, Kentucky modified its marriage law , calling marriage between first and second cousins incestuous and void. This puts Kentucky in the majority, with other states banning consanguineous marriages.

Kentucky has one neighbor that currently allows cousin marriages, Virginia, and two others that allow them but with some limitations attached, Illinois and Indiana. Cousin marriages were legal in Tennessee until April 2024 .

In Illinois and Indiana, the law is mostly concerned with protecting children from inbreeding and birth defects, and not with the modern social stigma of dating a cousin. Both states will allow marriage between two individuals who have reached a certain age, over 50 years old in Illinois or 65 or older in Indiana, making them unlikely to have children.

Illinois takes it a bit further, allowing a couple where one or both are younger than 50 years old to marry if they can provide a certificate signed by a licensed physician that they are permanently and irreversibly sterile and cannot have children.

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A similar approach was considered by a lawmaker in Tennessee when their legislature was discussing changing the law, according to Nexstar sister station WKRN .

“There is an increased risk of birth defects when you’ve got first cousins marrying. It is in the range of 1.7% to 2.8%, according to the Journal of Genetic Counseling,” Rep. Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood) said during the session. “So, there’s an additional risk, but it’s not as significant as some might otherwise be led to believe.”

Bulso filed an amendment to protect cousin marriage if couples see a genetic counselor, but it wasn’t added.

Cousin marriage, a misdemeanor in Kentucky, can result in legal penalties, including jail time or a fine.

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