Story perspectives

20 FLDS Children Carry Founder Gene, Genetic Disaster Looms

6/28/2026

Summary

Story summary

Doctors confirmed twenty children in the Short Creek, Utah FLDS community have fumarase deficiency.
Scientists call the surge a genetic disaster amplified by generations of close-kin marriages.
Researchers traced the recessive gene to founder Joseph Jessop or his wife Martha Yeates, suggesting thousands may carry it.
Mohave County investigators say the community’s religious devotion to caring for afflicted children blocks efforts to confront the crisis.

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Story summary

Doctors confirmed twenty children in the Short Creek, Utah FLDS community have fumarase deficiency.
Scientists call the surge a genetic disaster amplified by generations of close-kin marriages.
Researchers traced the recessive gene to founder Joseph Jessop or his wife Martha Yeates, suggesting thousands may carry it.
Mohave County investigators say the community’s religious devotion to caring for afflicted children blocks efforts to confront the crisis.