Rules against mariages between siblings existed since before people knew that there was such a thing as genome. The laws exist to not disturb the familiar bond - basically, so that when a relationship disolves it doesn't divide the family.
And yes, there is a higher risk of birth defects in general - but they already checked and both looked "fine on their own". The only thing Addison found was that they are related.
There are actually advocates for the abolishment of anti-incest laws, because they make no sense in todays world (and they are sometimes confusing because "close relation" is defined differently - some states/countries even incude step-siblings in which case the original reason applies (which doesn't apply here) but the genetics argument is just absurd).
Opposed to germany, the US allows prenatal testing - so having a healthy kid shouldn't be the problem they make it out to be. By the way: The Hotchkins patient in Season 1 had a way higher chance of giving birth to a kid with defects. So if it was really about that, shouldn't we focus on people with diagnosed terminal genetic illnesses and forbid them to give birth? It would make more sense than it does with siblings, where the chance although much higer than for regular healthy people it is still pretty slim.
To be clear: I am not advocating for or against anything, I am just pointing out how stupid it is...
Review by Marc FriedolinVIP 6BlockedParentSpoilers2021-01-02T03:38:56Z
The whole sibling thing is ridiculous.
Rules against mariages between siblings existed since before people knew that there was such a thing as genome.
The laws exist to not disturb the familiar bond - basically, so that when a relationship disolves it doesn't divide the family.
And yes, there is a higher risk of birth defects in general - but they already checked and both looked "fine on their own".
The only thing Addison found was that they are related.
There are actually advocates for the abolishment of anti-incest laws, because they make no sense in todays world (and they are sometimes confusing because "close relation" is defined differently - some states/countries even incude step-siblings in which case the original reason applies (which doesn't apply here) but the genetics argument is just absurd).
Opposed to germany, the US allows prenatal testing - so having a healthy kid shouldn't be the problem they make it out to be.
By the way: The Hotchkins patient in Season 1 had a way higher chance of giving birth to a kid with defects.
So if it was really about that, shouldn't we focus on people with diagnosed terminal genetic illnesses and forbid them to give birth? It would make more sense than it does with siblings, where the chance although much higer than for regular healthy people it is still pretty slim.
To be clear: I am not advocating for or against anything, I am just pointing out how stupid it is...