A Surprising Amount of Americans are Married to Their Cousins

I was shocked to see this happening in America, but at least these couples have less family to invite to the wedding ceremony.

It is good to be close to your family, but it looks like a percentage of Americans take that a little too literally.

According to FiveThirtyEight, "an estimated 0.2 percent of marriages in the United States are between individuals who are second cousins or closer." That means there are close to 250,000 married couples who are related by blood.

This number is based on older data and might actually be higher due to state laws. FiveThirtyEight reports that 25 state ban marriage between first cousins, and seven others have placed restrictions on them.

Anyone who is a fan of the show Arrested Development knows that things can get a little confusing in families.

Immigration is also a factor. Other countries have much higher rates of these kinds of marriages, and that ideology comes with them when they move to America.