When Your Neighbors Are Actually Your Relatives
I started having problems with my teeth. Spontaneous abscess that resulted in multiple root canals. My dentist did some looking into what the cause might be and found some really odd abnormalities with my incisors roots and nerves ( the teeth that had been afflicting me). So he sent out requests for help to a couple of professors he knew in the field. When my next appointment came up he was really quiet for a bit before verbally stumbling about.
It turns out that what was happening with my teeth was a classic sign of inbreeding and he was super uncomfortable giving me the news. I brought it up to my mom and she just was like: “Oh well yeah, didn’t you know?” WTF!? of course I didn’t know!!!
Turns out that not very far back in the family tree, several of my relatives decided that it was a good idea to get married to one another….and no one bothered to mention it…ever. The small town where I live is 85% my relatives, no joke. I hadn’t even met all of them, that’s how many there are.