I discovered my husband of 17 years was my COUSIN but decided to stay with him despite being related
A woman who discovered that her husband-of-17-years was actually her cousin has opened up about the 'shocking discovery' - and has explained why they decided to stay together despite finding out that they're related.
Celina and Joseph Quinones, from Colorado, tied the knot back in 2006, and while they noticed that their families were very similar, they never suspected that they were related.
It wasn't until a decade later, when Celina, who works as a realtor, decided to look into her heritage that they made the surprising revelation.
After taking DNA tests through MyHeritage 10 years into their marriage, Celina was stunned to find her own husband on her family tree.
A woman who discovered that her husband-of-17-years was actually her cousin has opened up about the 'shocking discovery' - and has explained why they decided to stay together
Celina and Joseph Quinones (seen at their wedding) tied the knot back in 2006, and while they noticed that their families were very similar, they never suspected they were related
It wasn't until a decade later, when Celina, who works as a realtor, decided to look into her heritage that they made the surprising revelation
'I ordered the DNA tests. They came in, and sure enough, we did our swabs, put them in the mail, and off they went,' she recalled to People magazine recently.
After taking DNA tests through MyHeritage 10 years into their marriage, Celina was stunned to find her own husband on her family tree
'Then we got the results back, and I searched the family tree DNA and saw him pop up there.'
Her first thought? 'Oh no,' she said.
Celina admitted that she struggled to come to grips with the news, and that she even considered leaving her husband at first.
However, they had already welcomed three healthy children together, and in the end, she decided that they were 'not going to let some blood come between them.'
'I was in shock. I was a little depressed over it, to be honest,' she said. 'Joseph was like, "Babe, don't worry about it. It's not a big deal. Just brush it off."
'I was like, "Should we get a divorce? Are we even supposed to be together?" I started rethinking.
'And then after a while, I was like, "Nope, we're just staying together." There's nothing we can do about it. I'm not going to let some blood come between us.
Celina admitted that she struggled to come to grips with the news, and that she even considered leaving her husband at first
'I was in shock. I was a little depressed over it, to be honest,' she said. 'I was like, "Should we get a divorce? Are we even supposed to be together?" I started rethinking'
However, they had already welcomed three healthy children together, and in the end, she decided that they were 'not going to let some blood come between them'
According to the test, Celina and Joseph are somewhere between second and seventh cousins, which means the closest relative they could share is a great-grandparent
'This was after we already had three kids, and all of them were healthy. They have 10 fingers, 10 toes, but it was just a shock.'
According to the test, Celina and Joseph are somewhere between second and seventh cousins, which means the closest relative they could share is a great-grandparent.
She went on to write a book about the discovery, called The Dream Catcher's Keeper. She also spoke out about it on TikTok, where her story quickly went viral.
Her original video about it got more than four million views, and while the mother-of-three admitted that she has gotten a lot of negative comments from people online, she said she feels 'more free' after sharing the video.
She went on to write a book about the discovery, called The Dream Catcher's Keeper. She also spoke out about it on TikTok, where her story quickly went viral
While the mother-of-three admitted that she has gotten a lot of negative comments from people online, she said she feels 'more free' after sharing the video
She hopes that being honest about what happened online will encourage others to get DNA tests too, and warned that what happened to her could happen to anyone
She concluded: 'I love my cous-band, and I wouldn't trade him or have it any other way'
@realestatemommas #CapCut My kids and my husband are my everything and we looked passed it. All our kids has 10 fingers 10 toes. It’s a good ice breaker lol ♬ original sound - The Qs (Realtor & Writer)
She hopes that being honest about what happened online will encourage others to get DNA tests too, and warned that what happened to her could happen to anyone.
'It is what it is. There are people that love no matter what or who, so why can't I love my cousin by accident?' she asked, while addressing her and Joseph's haters.
On TikTok, the realtor called the incident 'devastating' and 'weird.'
'It really freaked me out. I didn't want to talk about it at first but now I'm raising awareness about it,' she explained in one of her videos, before telling her followers: 'Get a DNA test.'
She concluded: 'I love my cous-band, and I wouldn't trade him or have it any other way.'
Source: Daily Mail
