The Whittakers, America's Most Inbred Family

Scientists and doctors alike have established the effects of inbreeding, including the risk of congenital defects and genetic diseases. There isn't much information on the Whittakers family, they remain secretive and protected by neighbors and local authorities. But, photographer, Mark Laita, has provided a look into the family.

The families baying vocals sound much like a stereotype portrayed in movies. They communicate in grunts and bark at passer-by.

"It was out of control," Mark said, "The craziest thing I'd ever seen."

This was how he described his first encounter with the family. The Whittakers reside in the rural mountain town of Odd, West Virginia, the city has a tight-knit population of 779 people.

Mark has spent an extensive amount of tie with the infamous incestuous clan, he first visited the family back in 2009 for his book Created Equal. And more recently he returned to visit last year.

The Whittaker family is survived by siblings Betty, Lorraine, and Ray, as well as their cousin Timmy. Their brother, Freddie, passed away from a heart attack.

There is reportedly an unnamed sister, and other family members that Mark has not met. Of the three remaining siblings, Timmy is the only one who graduated high school.

On his flagship visit, Mark was approached by a neighbor who had a shotgun in hand, the man threatened the use the gun if the production team didn't leave the family be.

"They don't like people coming to ridicule these people," said Mark. He eventually was allowed to snap pictures, despite the initial distrust.

He compared the scene to something out of Deliverance. The Oscar-nominated 1972 film directed by John Boorman about dueling-banjo mountain folk.

"There's these people walking around and their eyes are going in different directions and they are barking at us," He described, "The one guy you'd look at him in the eye or say anything and he'd scream and go running away and his pants would fall around his ankles and he'd go running off and go kick the garbage can. This would happen over and over."

Accompanying footage that was taken in 2021, shows the family on the porch of their rundown home with belongings thrown around.

The family has a long and complicated history of inbreeding with early reports that state that the three siblings' deceased mother and father were brother and sister.

The family later on clarified that they were double first cousins, meaning they shared both sets of grandparents.

The years of inbreeding led to a host of mental and physical aberrations and some members of the family only communicate with grunts and squawks.

"They understand what you talking about," A relative told Mark, "If they don't like it, they start yelling, let you know they don't like that idea."

Inbreeding can lead to a host of side effects that range from smaller adult size, reduced fertility, and an increased risk of genetic disorders. And in some rare instances, it can even lead to sapphire-colored skin. This was the case with the infamous Blue Fugates of Troublesome Creek, Kentucky.

The Whittaker family, however, didn't seem to understand that their genetic issues stemmed from self-pollinating the family tree. When one of their family members, Kenneth, was asked why their eyes didn't face forward, he responded, "Might be coal mining."

Mark Laita's series might seem exploitative, it was accused of perpetuating the Appalachian inbreeding "stereotype" that has been around for decades.

However, Mark, claimed that he wanted to show the "level of poverty" that the Whittakers faced. And he has set up a GoFundMe to help the family with living expenses and home improvements. It has raised $52,000 of it's $75,000 goal.

In a recent video taken during Mark's 2022 visit, Ray is seen taking the photographer on a Cribs-style tour around their renovated home, fit with a new refrigerator, a bed with a box spring, and other new amenities, thanks to fundraising efforts.

At one point, Ray squawked excitedly as he showed Mark a dent in their new truck where it hit a deer.

Mark says that his goal is to shed light on issues that people in the country rarely see.

"People can say that people in Appalachia are leading these wonderful lives, leave them be," Said Mark, "But they could also get a lot more support from the government or corporations or something so they could not be digging up roots in the middle of the winter, climbing mountains to survive on $10,000 a year." He went on to add, "Despite the fact that they don't complain, it's a really rough life."