It has become very difficult to articulately place incest in its correct sphere: could it be within the morality, legislation, biological, cultural, or psychological sphere? The intense reflection on, and the heated debate revolving around this topic is the most certain occurrence. Consanguinity was highly upheld in most traditional societies. However, in the later decades of the nineteenth century, societal views on incest took a different turn, an example being in the UK. At the time, incest was considered a form of abuse against a young girl, literally, child abuse. Such a turnover of events where incest became punishable by law instilled fear among individuals hence reduced incestuous rates and associated consanguinity. The punishment of incest act was endorsed in 1908, and any convicted male would be imprisoned for 3 to 7 years (Kuper 82). Later social reformists and influential scientists like Darwin pointed out the health risks associated with consanguinity. In England and most parts of Europe, the supposed harmful and injurious effects of consanguineous marriages have led to the rejection of these marriages. Consanguineous marriages are those marriages between close biological kin. Despite the fact that they have declined in modern Western societies due to their negative genetic effects, they are still preferred in Middle East, North Africa, and most Asian countries, where first-cousin marriages are popular (Saggar and Alan 244). This paper will focus on the decline of consanguineous marriages in the modern contemporary Western world, and the reasons for this. Upon reading various literatures, it is evident that science has had a role to play in as far as decline in consanguineous marriages is concerned. However, it cannot be perceived to be the only reason. On the contrary, other factors have come into play, and together have had a collective impact on how individual’s think about consanguineous marriages (Ghaz et al. 17). These include scientific genetics, modernization where education levels of women have been elevated. Nowadays, women have become very empowered with regard to gaining knowledge and resources. In addition, modernization has brought about a change in the family structure, and nowadays there is an inclination towards a nuclear kind of family system. There have also been increased internal rural to urban migrations, and improved economic conditions among individuals. To begin with, consanguineous marriages promote interbreeding. This is associated with an increased risk of genetic illnesses while compared with cross-breeding in non-consanguineous marriages. Consanguinity is associated with increased mortality and morbidity rates, as well as high rates of congenital malformations (Bener and Rafat 374-6).These factors alone are enough to make consanguineous marriage unacceptable within the scientific fraternity. Professor Alan Bittles, renowned for his role in human genetics, collated data on infant mortality globally amongst children born from first-cousin marriages. He revealed a 1.2% extra increased infant mortality risk evident from this kind of consanguineous marriages. In addition, he showed a 2% extra increased ri