FILMMAKER Mark Laita created a documentary that explored the real lives of America's most inbred family.
Meet the Whittakers, a family who lives in an isolated shack, which cuts them off from civilization.
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Who are the Whittaker family?
The Whittakers made it to the spotlight after a photographer named Mark Laita snapped them for his book, Created Equal, in 2004.
In 2020, Mark once again visited the family in Virginia, but this time he made a video of his visit, which went viral.
The video is titled Inbred Family - The Whittakers and has amassed over 29 million views and 383 thousand likes on YouTube.
The video showed the family with members of older generations living in a small town in the Appalachian region who work at their father's farm.
The video also highlighted how the Whittakers' were struggling to make ends meet in their small house with their several dogs.
The Whittaker family is British by descent and initially included Ray, Lorraine, Timmy (only cousin), Freddie, and an unnamed sister.
Sadly, Freddie died of a heart attack a long time ago.
It is also believed that there are a few more individuals in the family who have not been addressed.
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Are the Whittaker family inbred?
The Whittaker family is considered the most popular inbred family in the United States.
However, recent studies have revealed that their parents were cousins and not brother and sister as was earlier believed.
Some members of the Whittaker family have mental and physical abnormalities.
A few members only communicate through grunts and cannot speak. Some did not attend school.
As of now, there has been no medical examination on the Whittakers, but there are claims that their health issues arise from inbreeding.
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Where does the Whitaker family live?
The family resides in a town called Odd, located in rural West Virginia.
Neighbors are incredibly protective of the family and will chase away anyone who shows up looking to photograph or taunt the Whittakers.
"They are kind of protected by the neighbours and the relatives don’t like these people coming to ridicule them," Laita said on an episode of the Koncrete KLIPS podcast.
Following Laita's visit, he created aGoFundMeto help the family make necessary improvements to their home.
So far, It has raised more than $46,000.