A Problem I Never Considered

On Tuesday the New York Daily News posted a story about a website set up in 1997 to help Icelanders avoid incest. Think about it. Iceland is an absolutely beautiful place, but it is an island with a population of about 300,000. It would be very easy to date your cousin without knowing he/she was a relative.

The article states:

Enter Íslendingabók, or the Book of Icelanders, an online resource that tracks 1,200 years worth of genealogical data on the country’s inhabitants, according to the website.

All Icelanders have to do to prevent incest is type in their name and the name of a potential love interest — that is, provided they have an “Icelandic ID number,” since the database is restricted to citizens and legal residents.

What a fantastic idea. The website will also tell inquirers whether or not they are related to Icelandic celebrities.

My husband and I traveled to Iceland to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary a few years ago–it was warmer than Massachusetts in February! We stayed at the Blue Lagoon, one of the national treasures of the country. Iceland is an amazing place, and the people were absolutely wonderful. I hope to go there again.

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