The most inbred family in France has kept its physical deformities a secret, they are impressive

“The Family” is a religious community, made up of only eight different families ;rentes. Marriage between cousins ​​is the law there.

There are 3,000 of them, but they only have eight different surnames. In fact, they only marry cousins. Named “La Famille”, this community lives in the heart of Paris, around the rue de Montreuil, in the eleventh arrondissement and has also spread to the 12th and 20th arrondissements of the capital. This community has notably been éstudied by Suzanne Privat in her book La Famille : itinéraire d'un secret (éditions Les Avrils), in spring 2021. 

The history of endogamous marriages dates back to 1819 when, in a bistro on rue Saint-Maur, two friends, Jean-Pierre Thibout and François Havet, decided to marry their children. Eight couples eventually came together to form “The Family”. Until 1892, the community of Christian inspiration was still open to outside marriages, but, at the end of the 19th century, Augustin Thibout, one of the elders of “The Family” demanded that their descendants close in on themselves, accepting only consanguineous unions. Marriage was then done young, around the twenties, and being a virgin was essential.

The members of “The Family” must also stay among themselves as much as possible. Opening up too much to the outside world can be a form of banishment. Children can go to school, but must not get involved in social life (inviting friends, going on school trips, etc.). Adults can work, except in legal or health professions, because divine law prevails and God is the only master of bodies…

Strict rules are also imposed: women must not cut their hair or wear pants and red and white are prohibited in clothing, being respectively associated with the devil and God. Contraception and divorce are also forbidden.

Every first Saturday in January, the Family gathers in a bistro to celebrate the creation of the community. Their beliefs are very specific: they are descended from the Jansenist convulsionary, a religious movement born in the 18th century. They are convinced that the end of time will come and that they are God's chosen ones, therefore believing that they must not “let themselves be contaminated by the people of the world”.

However, this endogamy leads to specific diseases. Some members of “The Family” are affected by genetic disorders such as Bloom syndrome, which is characterized by pre- and post-natal growth retardation, causing in particular a cranial deformation and making the face narrow and the nose and ears prominent. This can also generate early cancers.

Suzanne Privat explained to Actu.fr, that “it happens that children die of cancer, or that entire siblings are wiped out between the ages of 40 and 50, all as a result of cancer”. One of the families in the community, for example, has an average life expectancy of only 58 years. The writer cites other pathologies that are “overrepresented” in the community such as “omphaloceles at birth, with the small intestine protruding from the abdomen, polydactyly with extra fingers, hemophilia which is hereditary or heart problems”.

If “The Family” is monitored by the Intergovernmental Mission for Vigilance against Sectarian Deviations, it is not classified as a sect, having neither a guru nor proselytizing practices. Furthermore, French law does not prohibit marriages between cousins ​​but only those with parents, grandparents, children, grandchildren, brothers and sisters and half-brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts as well as nephews and nieces.