"Barking Conversations, Family Unrecognizable"… A 100-Year Incestuous American Family

A Family Continuing Consanguinity for 100 Years
Severe Genetic Disease Makes Communication Difficult

A story about an American family that has practiced consanguineous marriage for generations and is suffering from a severe genetic disease has shocked many.

Recently, British media outlets such as BBC, Mirror, and Daily Mail reported on the Whitaker family living in Ode, West Virginia, USA. The Whitaker family has continued consanguineous marriages for over 100 years. At that time, identical twins Henry and John were born, and Henry married first, having seven children including John Emory Whitaker in 1913.

John then married his cousin Ada, and in 1920, they had nine children including Gracie Irene Whitaker. Later, in 1935, cousins John Whitaker and Gracie Whitaker married and had 15 children. Among them, two died, and many others suffer from genetic diseases.

The Whitaker family suffering from genetic diseases due to consanguineous marriage [Image source=Captured from YouTube channel ‘Soft White Underbelly’]

The story of the Whitaker family became known to the world through family photos taken by documentary filmmaker Mark Ryter (63) in 2004 and a 12-minute documentary he produced in 2020. The documentary, released on YouTube, has garnered millions to tens of millions of views per video.

In the video, members of the Whitaker family suffered from severe strabismus, causing their pupils to be unfocused, and some were unable to walk properly. They also could not speak well, communicating instead through groans or animal sounds. They sometimes barked like dogs or ran away from people.

The living conditions were also poor. The family lived with several dogs in a dark, cramped house full of mold. The kitchen was piled with leftover food, and the sofa was covered in grime. Most of them, who suffer from autism spectrum disorder, spent most of their day sitting or lying on the sofa. Only one family member graduated from high school.

Whittaker family suffering from genetic diseases due to consanguineous marriage [Image source=Captured from YouTube channel 'Soft White Underbelly']

Ryter said in a podcast interview, “When I first met the Whitaker family, it felt like a scene from a thriller movie, and I was shocked. They did not even know that the cause of their disabilities was consanguineous marriage, and they could barely remember their parents or other family members.”

The Whitaker family faced severe criticism after the documentary was released and had to be protected by the police. There were also criticisms that “Ryter’s documentary exploited the Whitaker family’s life as mere ‘poverty porn.’”

In response, Ryter explained, “I wanted to show the situation the Whitaker family faced and expose what is happening in America.” He added, “I set up a donation site and used the 44,000 pounds (about 72 million won) raised to improve the Whitaker family’s home.”

Currently, cousin marriages are allowed in most countries except South Korea. Germany, Switzerland, and Austria prohibit marriage up to the third cousin, while the USA, UK, France, Italy, and Japan prohibit marriage up to the fourth cousin. However, due to the risk of genetic diseases, it is known that in these countries, if cousins marry, the next generation does not marry cousins.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.