Familienpolitik

In this blog post at Slate.com’s Human Nature, William Saletan questions the sense in prohibiting incest with a surprising argument. Women who delay motherhood significantly increase the risk their children will be born with Down syndrome, so much so, that by the time women are having children in their forties the risk is significantly worse than what reproduction between two cousins carries. Saletan even argues that the scientific basis for prohibiting sex between siblings is weak.

Should governments worry about incest? And could you imagine a law making it illegal to have children after a certain age? It’s tempting to say that it’s no big deal for a 45-year-old woman to have a baby, but that maybe 60-year-old women should be kept from having children. But how much are these numbers based on changing assumptions in our society and how much on science? And what role should our governments play in all this?

Tags: delayed motherhood, family policy, incest