Do you let sims with common ancestors that the game no longer considers related be romantic?

I dont think i have a problem with cousins, but sims and their great grandparents that is the problem.

It depends on the story/sim (e.g. a royal vampire family might want to 'keep it in the family') and the nature of their relationship e.g. distant cousin is probably fine, but great grandparent? Uh no thanks.

I would let siblings be romantic if the unmodded game would allow it. The only thing that bothers me about in-family romantic gestures is the common behaviour of in-laws to autonomously flirt with eachother; and mostly because I ordinarily do not wish it to happen, since it can easily destroy their relations with their partners and the other's partner, and any toddler that catches the interactions, etc etc... The game is very open and closed at the same time.

I have played my sim family for nine years but haven't had that many generations yet for it to be possible. I'm not sure if I would let it happen, but it's possible. It depends on the sims and what they do on their own.

"JoAnne65;c-17036364" wrote:
I once let two cousins become romantically involved even (I could because I had moved my sims to another world/new save so they didn’t recognize each other as relatives anymore). Actually, in real life in most countries cousins can actually marry. The ‘ew’ is between our ears, technically there’s not much wrong with it. Other than a slightly bigger chance of getting children who can’t reproduce (a risk comparable to a 35+ woman who gets pregnant for the first time, which we don’t consider ew either). Charles Darwin married his cousin I learned (when I did all this research because of my storyline, which in fact was mainly based on the fact that I liked to mix their genetic features). And as for further back: my own real life parents alledgedly share the same ancestors, a few generations back. There is no biological reason why that would be unadvisable.

Queen Victoria married her cousin Albert and they have a lot of surviving children.

These days though cousin marriage is a taboo

"king_of_simcity7;c-17038036" wrote:
Queen Victoria married her cousin Albert and they have a lot of surviving children.

A good example of why a lack of genetic diversity can become problematic - in this case the spread of hemophilia amongst royals.

Luckily the genetics in the game is not as complex as real life's. I would have liked more diseases though!

"annaliese39;c-17038178" wrote:

"king_of_simcity7;c-17038036" wrote:
Queen Victoria married her cousin Albert and they have a lot of surviving children.

A good example of why a lack of genetic diversity can become problematic - in this case the spread of hemophilia amongst royals.

Hemophilia was passed through because both parents (cousins in this case) had it. That fact increased the odds. It’s estimated that 4 to 7 percent of children born to first cousins are likely to have birth defects, compared to 3 to 4 percent for children whose parents are more distantly related. That’s not nothing, but it’s also not the end of the world—or the family tree. Victoria and Albert had more children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren who had no hemophilia than those who did. The real issue would arise if the next generation of kids also married their first cousins. Their offspring will have even more DNA in common—and an even greater chance for birth defects. (source).

Apart from the fact a couple can also decide not to have children if they don’t want to take the extra risk. In any case, I seriously object against ‘ew’, because having a higher chance to have children with birth defects is not ew. It’s sad at most, for the persons who it concerns. Like a colleague of mine who is seriously epileptic and has to take heavy medicines that will guarantee (100%) birth defects, if she’d ever get children. She is married and not ew.

Yeah, why not? Cousin marriage is legal in a lot of countries (including mine). Personally, I wouldn´t want to do anything romantic with my cousins, but considering genetics, there´s no real problem (not "ew" in any case).

The game is wacky anyway when it comes to relatives. If two sims who have children from different partners marry, those children are considered siblings, and can have no romantic interactions, which doesn´t make sense at all (especially if the children are already grown up).

"JoAnne65;c-17038535" wrote:

"annaliese39;c-17038178" wrote:

"king_of_simcity7;c-17038036" wrote:
Queen Victoria married her cousin Albert and they have a lot of surviving children.

A good example of why a lack of genetic diversity can become problematic - in this case the spread of hemophilia amongst royals.

Hemophilia was passed through because both parents (cousins in this case) had it. That fact increased the odds. It’s estimated that 4 to 7 percent of children born to first cousins are likely to have birth defects, compared to 3 to 4 percent for children whose parents are more distantly related. That’s not nothing, but it’s also not the end of the world—or the family tree. Victoria and Albert had more children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren who had no hemophilia than those who did. The real issue would arise if the next generation of kids also married their first cousins. Their offspring will have even more DNA in common—and an even greater chance for birth defects. (source).

Apart from the fact a couple can also decide not to have children if they don’t want to take the extra risk. In any case, I seriously object against ‘ew’, because having a higher chance to have children with birth defects is not ew. It’s sad at most, for the persons who it concerns. Like a colleague of mine who is seriously epileptic and has to take heavy medicines that will guarantee (100%) birth defects, if she’d ever get children. She is married and not ew.

Oh no, of course! I don't think 'ew' when cousins marry (and certainly not when people with genetic defects or disabilities do either). I only meant to point out that in some cases there may be risks/difficulties for future generations over time if there is a lack of genetic diversity, such as when royal families insisted on maintaining the royal bloodline.