Genetic Issues and the FLDS

FlowerChild

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Fumarase Deficiency
Fifteen years ago, a strange-looking child suffering from severe physical maladies and acute retardation was brought into the office of Dr. Theodore Tarby.
Tarby's young patient was afflicted with an extremely rare disease called fumarase deficiency. "I had never seen a patient with it," Tarby says. "Right away I asked the parents if there were any other children with the same problem."
The parents said their daughter had cerebral palsy. Tarby asked them to bring the girl to him for an examination."As soon as I saw her, I knew she had the same thing as her brother," Tarby says.
By the late 1990s, Tarby and his team had discovered fumarase deficiency was occurring in the greatest concentration in the world among the fundamentalist Mormon polygamists of northern Arizona and southern Utah. Of even greater concern was the fact that the recessive gene that triggers the disease was rapidly spreading to thousands of individuals living in the community because of decades of inbreeding.

"We have and will have a continual output of children with this condition," Tarby says. "If you cross a Barlow and Jessop, you stand a high risk of getting this condition," Tarby says.

There is no cure for the disease, which impedes the body's ability to process food at the cellular level.

"This problem is going to get worse and worse and worse," predicts 40-year-old Isaac Wyler, another lifelong Colorado City resident who was excommunicated from the FLDS in January 2004. Wyler's ex-wife's sister has had two babies afflicted with fumarase deficiency. "Right now, we are just looking at the tip of the iceberg."
For more than 70 years, all marriages in the isolated towns have been arranged by the leader of the FLDS, a breakaway sect of the Salt Lake City-based Mormon Church. Marriages among first and second cousins have been common for decades in the community, where religious doctrine requires men to have at least three wives to gain eternal salvation. Only the FLDS prophet can arrange and perform polygamous marriages, and those marriages are taking place in a community in which almost everybody is related.
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2005-12-29/news/forbidden-fruit/
 
Inbreeding. Consanguinity refers to the property of being from the same genetic lineage as another person. In that respect, consanguinity is the quality of being descended from the same ancestor as another person.

Some of the genetic disorders associated with inbreeding aka consanguineous marriage was, bronchial asthma, mental retardation, epilepsy and diabetes were significantly more common in offspring of the consanguineous than non- consanguineous couples.

A 5-year prospective study of 4,934 children of different ethnic groups has demonstrated a 3-fold increase of postneonatal mortality and childhood morbidity in the offspring of consanguineous Pakistani parents. Most of these families contained more than one consanguineous union, resulting in a mean inbreeding coefficient for their children of 0.0686. It is estimated that 60% of the mortality and severe morbidity of this group of children could be eliminated if inbreeding ceased. However consanguinity is much favoured in this minority group, and health education will have to be carefully and sensitively handled.

55 per cent of British Pakistanis are married to first cousins, resulting in an increasing rate of genetic defects and high rates of infant mortality.

http://wwwwakeupamericans-spree.blogspot.com/2008/02/british-muslim-inbreeding-causing.html
 
I am getting a bit concerned because we aren't officially hearing about evidence of incest. I do hope that they are checking for that. Of course they may not have gotten a chance to look at the geneological info yet.
 
I am getting a bit concerned because we aren't officially hearing about evidence of incest. I do hope that they are checking for that. Of course they may not have gotten a chance to look at the geneological info yet.

I think it's going to take some time. The children were only moved into foster care facilities within the week. Once they get comfortable with their surroundings, I think they'll be more inclined to open up with social workers. Given time, I think they'll be reporting physical and sexual abuse.
 
I think it's going to take some time. The children were only moved into foster care facilities within the week. Once they get comfortable with their surroundings, I think they'll be more inclined to open up with social workers. Given time, I think they'll be reporting physical and sexual abuse.

But how much will the kids know about their geneology? They have said that some kids don't know who their birth mothers are, they get passed around and today bio daddy is this man, but daddy might be different tomorrow.

Info on the incest will have to come from the church records if they cannot get the mothers to tell. And I guess the church records are what are being reviewed right now. (Da Judge is reviewing them now, not the FLDS attorneys! :woohoo:)
 
But how much will the kids know about their geneology? They have said that some kids don't know who their birth mothers are, they get passed around and today bio daddy is this man, but daddy might be different tomorrow.

Info on the incest will have to come from the church records if they cannot get the mothers to tell. And I guess the church records are what are being reviewed right now. (Da Judge is reviewing them now, not the FLDS attorneys! :woohoo:)
The genealogy records, journals they found, and don't forget, Flora and Carolyn are related to many of these people as are others who left who can quote lineages in a heartbeat. I'm sure the authorities are getting plenty of help in that direction.
 
FLDS attorneys are attributing the childrens broken bones to "brittle bone disease."

Would that be a genetic issue?

ETA: If you Google "brittle bone disease," this is on of the things that comes up.


What is osteogenesis imperfecta?

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is the most common disease causing fractures in childhood. It also causes fractures in adults.

OI is a genetic disorder usually resulting from abnormalities of the genes that control the production of a protein called collagen; which is the main protein in bone and essential for its strength. The fragility of bone in OI is due to the collagen problems; it has nothing to do with the calcium part of bone, which is what shows up on X-rays.
http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/diseases/facts/brittlebones.htm

And according to the attorney, "several" of the kids have it.
 
But how much will the kids know about their geneology? They have said that some kids don't know who their birth mothers are, they get passed around and today bio daddy is this man, but daddy might be different tomorrow.

Info on the incest will have to come from the church records if they cannot get the mothers to tell. And I guess the church records are what are being reviewed right now. (Da Judge is reviewing them now, not the FLDS attorneys! :woohoo:)

The state of Texas seized a lot of records, including genealogical records. I would think that those records would be readily accessible as genealogy is considered a public record. They wouldn't be something that has to be reviewed by the judge.

As a genealogist with almost 30 years experience, I'm familiar with the LDS approved lineage charts and family group sheets. Of the two, the most beneficial to LE will be the family group sheets, as they will list husband and his data (including his parents), wife and her data (including her parents), and then list the children in chronological order with their date of birth, place of birth, date of marriage and to whom, and death date (if applicable). There would have to be a separate family group sheet for the husband and each of his wives. If the husband has 8 wives, there would be 8 family group sheets. LE would be able to verify which child belongs to the husband and which wife. There's spaces for 11 children on each family group sheet. There's also a space for "Husband's other wives" and "Wife's other husbands."

The one thing that may prove difficult is the commonality of names, as I'm sure there are a number of people within the FLDS with the same names. Hopefully, there won't be two with the same names who are the same age or near the same age.
 
The state of Texas seized a lot of records, including genealogical records. I would think that those records would be readily accessible as genealogy is considered a public record. They wouldn't be something that has to be reviewed by the judge.

As a genealogist with almost 30 years experience, I'm familiar with the LDS approved lineage charts and family group sheets. Of the two, the most beneficial to LE will be the family group sheets, as they will list husband and his data (including his parents), wife and her data (including her parents), and then list the children in chronological order with their date of birth, place of birth, date of marriage and to whom, and death date (if applicable). There would have to be a separate family group sheet for the husband and each of his wives. If the husband has 8 wives, there would be 8 family group sheets. LE would be able to verify which child belongs to the husband and which wife. There's spaces for 11 children on each family group sheet. There's also a space for "Husband's other wives" and "Wife's other husbands."

The one thing that may prove difficult is the commonality of names, as I'm sure there are a number of people within the FLDS with the same names. Hopefully, there won't be two with the same names who are the same age or near the same age.
There are about a dozen "families" who seem to pop up in EVERY group. Barlow, Jessop, Jeffs.....etc
According to what is already known probably 80% - 90% of the marriages are between cousins - including FIRST COUSINS. Men often marry sisters, making the kids of both as close as real siblings and yes, sometimes men marry their "step -daughters" who are also often cousins. - it's incestual on TWO levels.
The gene pool in the FLDS is quite small and despite the occasional addition of a "new" male from mainstream FLDS and OTHER polygamous groups, it seems that within a generation or two, that genetic diversity is canceled out by the continual repetition of the same few families.
According to the Fumarase expert, if you cross the Jessop and Barlow lines, Fumarase is almost guaranteed - at LEAST 25% of the kids WILL have it....and if you look at the relationships you'll see that probably half of the FLDS population is already a CLOSE cross between the Jessop and Barlow lines.

There is a genetic reason incest is BAD even once and the FLDS has been doing it for 100 years. Eventually - say within another 150 years - the FLDS will be gone - not because of the laws or the Govt intervention, but because genetically the group cannot survive. Eventually ALL the members will be so closely related that if they are fertile, ALL the children will carry some debilitating gene (physical and/or mental) or not survive infancy. Basically the Polygamous groups as they are now are genetic equivalent of roulette and the odds are getting worse very quickly with girls having their 1st child at 12 and women becoming great grandmothers at 36. Time is VERY compressed - a new generation every 15 years.

It's going to end up very confusing for the lay-person or a person with a casual interest. - but if you know ANYTHING about genetics, this is the ugly underbelly of the FLDS that goes FAR beyond child-brides and abuse (and will last MUCH MUCH LONGER).

My Opinion
 
OI is autosomal dominant, meaning that normally there's a 50% chance of inheritance. If both parents have OI, it's 75%, but none of the men they've shown seem to show signs of the disease.
What sort of twisted person allows a trampoline in a group of children with brittle bone disease? Yikes! (Sorry, I can't wrap my mind around that choice of allowable toys.) It's like the leaders want to kill off the affected kids, if the brittle bone disease excuse is correct.
I agree with Flower Child--this cult will self-destruct.
 
There is a genetic reason incest is BAD even once and the FLDS has been doing it for 100 years. Eventually - say within another 150 years - the FLDS will be gone - not because of the laws or the Govt intervention, but because genetically the group cannot survive. Eventually ALL the members will be so closely related that if they are fertile, ALL the children will carry some debilitating gene (physical and/or mental) or not survive infancy. Basically the Polygamous groups as they are now are genetic equivalent of roulette and the odds are getting worse very quickly with girls having their 1st child at 12 and women becoming great grandmothers at 36. Time is VERY compressed - a new generation every 15 years.

It's going to end up very confusing for the lay-person or a person with a casual interest. - but if you know ANYTHING about genetics, this is the ugly underbelly of the FLDS that goes FAR beyond child-brides and abuse (and will last MUCH MUCH LONGER).

My Opinion

You are probably right, but the sad thing is that we aren't talking about lab rats. These are PEOPLE. This is about innocent CHILDREN. The whole thing makes me ill.
 
You are probably right, but the sad thing is that we aren't talking about lab rats. These are PEOPLE. This is about innocent CHILDREN. The whole thing makes me sill.

They ARE going to be studied like lab rats though. you can bet on it.
 
OI is autosomal dominant, meaning that normally there's a 50% chance of inheritance. If both parents have OI, it's 75%, but none of the men they've shown seem to show signs of the disease.
What sort of twisted person allows a trampoline in a group of children with brittle bone disease? Yikes! (Sorry, I can't wrap my mind around that choice of allowable toys.) It's like the leaders want to kill off the affected kids, if the brittle bone disease excuse is correct.
I agree with Flower Child--this cult will self-destruct.

Of course they do. Warren Jeffs' eugenics experiment. :(
 
Well, they are aware of the issues (even tho many members are in denial) and yet they continue. Having more children by multiple wives and getting into the highest tier of heaven is MORE important than the health of future generations. What they are is SELFISH and self centered. Having children isn't about the children, it's ALL ABOUT THEM! The children (and to some degree the many wives) are only important as they relate to getting the FATHER into a "better heaven".

My Opinion
 
From NG transcript from last night. Nancy Grace interviewing Carolyn Jessop (author of Escape):

GRACE: You know, Carolyn, I was just thinking about my two twins and how I did a back flip when John David scratched his face with his fingernail, because it left a little scratch right here. And I was so worried about hurting him that I filed his nails because I didn`t want to cut them with a fingernail clipper.

And now I`m hearing your stories and about 41 broken bones. And you know, you don`t just dream up broken bones.

JESSOP: No.

GRACE: You see them on an X-ray. You can tell a bone has been fractured or broken in the past.

JESSOP: The other element here is this society has no genetic condition for brittle bones. I`ve never heard of that before. There is no such thing that exists in this community.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0804/30/ng.01.html
 
They can't just "say" the kids have brittle bones (or some condition that makes bones vulnerable) and have it be true. This will have to be verified and PROVEN medically/scientifically - and not by some FLDS Dr. either. We have many good Medical Schools and Research Facilities here in Texas and you can bet they will ALL stand in line to research and testify - the Good PR they would get for "helping children" is priceless.

Right now it appears TO ME that the FLDS is scrambling - throwing everything and the kitchen sink at the wall of public opinion and hoping something resonates or sticks. I feel certain the FLDS is in CYA mode - but they are getting hit from every direction because Texas obviously has someone pretty sharp working for CPS in the PR Dept. The judges and CPS aren't just sitting back and defending themselves, but playing some offense too. And here in Texas, it's unlikely that the mainstream Mormon Church is going to pull much weight with the legislature or politicians - certainly it's NOT LIKE NV, AZ and UT in that regard. I feel the prevalence of Mormon faithful in some western states has hindered the prosecution of the FLDS and other similar groups because its embarrassing to them and they fear being tarred themselves with the same broad "Mormon" brush. They don't want to associate mainstream LDS with the FLDS in any way and they feel "regular people" can't discriminate between the two (or don't want to). They have FOR YEARS gone by the rule that if they ignore the FLDS maybe it will just go away. Texas has no such worries or constraints and they frankly don't care WHO looks bad as this all shakes out. Short Creek didn't happen here so Texas did what UTAH, ARIZONA AND NEVADA have spent 50 years trying to AVOID doing. Stopped the FLDS COLD!

Perhaps NOW the FLDS genetic issues (affecting innocent children) due to inbreeding will get NATIONAL ATTENTION instead of being shoved into a closet (literally and figuratively) behind a walled compound.

My Opinion
 

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