A happily married couple who share three children have revealed how they discovered they were related after taking a family tree DNA test.
Celina and Joseph Quinones, from Colorado, had been together for 17 years and wed for more than ten when Celina decided to dig into her family tree.
The mother-of-three didn’t get too far into her lineage when she discovered a huge shock – Joseph was also her cousin.
Posting on TikTok under the handle @realestatemommas, she broke the news of how the couple found out they were more than just man and wife.
She wrote: ‘Married my husband in 2006. Not thinking anything of it we had three kids. Come to find out we were related and cousins.’
Celina, who has written a book about her experiences, joked that the news was ‘a good ice breaker’ but urged other couples to check their own heritage.
The clip quickly went viral and has now had four million views, with many people posting negative comments about their continued union, saying they should separate.
She described the moment she first discovered her husband was actually also her cousin as ‘devastating’ but says the couple’s love is stronger than ever and that she’s ignored negative comments suggesting the pair divorce.
She wrote: ‘This was three kids in that I found out we were related. I did my DNA test I think in 2016 and yeah it was devastating because I was like “babe we’re related are we even supposed to be together? This is weird”. It really freaked me out.
‘I wouldn’t change it for the world… Cousband and wife for life! There is a reason why good couples look alike. I am just over here raising awareness.’
She explained how they’ve moved on from the discovery, writing: ‘My kids and my husband are my everything and we looked past it. All our kids have 10 fingers and 10 toes. It’s a good ice breaker lol.’
A second clip clarifies that Celina and Joseph had absolutely no idea they were related when they first got together, and that they dated for four months before getting engaged.
She explained: ’17 years with my cousband. No, we didn’t know till we did a DNA test. We had a four-month courtship before we got married. He is still and will be my everything.
‘I ain’t gonna let a little bit of blood destroy what we created, this beautiful family.’
Responding to negativity from those commenting, she says they’ll never be influenced by what others think – and maintains they had no clue about the blood link until the test.
She wrote: ‘Let me divorce him because we didn’t know. Let me just tell our kids their parents are not together anymore because of other people’s opinions.
‘No thank you we will just be staying cousins, spouses and lovers forever. Now go throw up in your mouth some more.’
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