A married couple with three children learned they were actually cousins after taking a DNA test for a family tree project.
Celina Quinones revealed the shocking news in a now-viral TikTok video. With over 4.4 million views since it was posted last month, reactions to the clip range from confusion to outright negativity.
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“There’s a lot of negative comments, it’s horrible,” Celina tells PEOPLE. “People keep asking, ‘Why would you do that? Why would you post this?’ But I take everything with a grain of salt. I’m a realtor, so I’m used to getting badgered all the time, so I’m like, ah, it’s nothing.”
In July 2006, Celina married her husband, Joseph Quinones, after just a couple of months of dating each other. No one realized they were related, despite their families meeting many times since then.
“We ended up having our wedding, and even then, our grandmas seemed to be a lot alike, and they got along, but still, nothing clicked,” she recalls.
Couple Learned About Relation After Taking DNA Test 10 Years Into Their Marriage
Joseph added: “We didn’t think about it. I never saw her at family reunions, funerals, or weddings.”
“I ordered the DNA tests,” says Celina. “They came in, and sure enough, we did our swabs, put them in the mail, and off they went. Then we got the results back, and I searched the family tree DNA — another part of the search — and saw him pop up there. And I go, ‘Oh no.'”
Celina and Joseph Quinones from Colorado, United State, have discovered they are cousins, after 17 years of marriage with three children. pic.twitter.com/yIqrxfJxw4
— Naija (@Naija_PR) March 29, 2023
Wife Claims She Was Unsure If Couple Could Remain Together, But Ultimately Decided To Stay
However, she claims they “already had three kids (together), and all of them were healthy.” Their sons are 15 and 13 years old, while their daughter is 10, they told the outlet.
“I was in shock. I was a little depressed over it, to be honest. But this was after we already had three kids, and all of them were healthy,” says Celina of the couple’s two sons, ages 15 and 13, and their 10-year-old daughter. “They have 10 fingers, 10 toes, but it was just a shock.”
She continued:
“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, who wrote a book about her life titled The Dream Catcher’s Keeper, says she doesn’t know to what extent she and her husband are related.
A married couple who share three children have revealed how they discovered they are cousins after taking a family tree DNA test.
Celina and Joseph Quinones, had been together for 17 years and have been married for more than ten years when Celinahttps://t.co/WV12U44JWN pic.twitter.com/SJGud13cfi
— OtownGist (@Otowngist) March 29, 2023
DNA Tests Show Husband And Wife Are Between Second And Seventh Cousins
The DNA tests showed the couple is between second and seventh cousins, meaning the closest common relative they would have in common would be a great-grandparent.
She added she stopped researching the family tree upon learning of the relationship but said she eventually hopes to learn more about their shared ancestry in the near future.
Celina wasn’t sure why she shared the news on social media, saying she thought it would be “funny” and that she “didn’t think it would go this viral.”
“I didn’t think anything of it,” she says. “I didn’t think it would go this viral.”
“I feel a little more free,” she says. “Like, 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?”
What do you think, Roomies? Would you stay in the relationship or nah?
