DNA Test Confirms Married Couple To Be Cousins
DNA tests such as 23 and Me and Ancestry.com have become increasingly popular. Simply put, they give people the opportunity
Victoria Liotta
DNA tests such as 23 and Me and Ancestry.com have become increasingly popular. Simply put, they give people the opportunity to trace back their family tree and learn about relatives they haven’t met before. The situation we’re going to tell you about, however, goes a little differently.
A couple who has been married 17 years and share three kids learned that they are in fact cousins after sending in a DNA test to learn more about their family tree.
Not A Suspicion In Sight
You’re probably wondering “How?” How could no one know – not a grandma, or an aunt, or an uncle, etc.?
Celina Quinones, a realtor from Colorado, told PEOPLE, “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.” Joseph Quinones, her husband, added “We didn’t think about it. I never saw her at family reunions, funerals, or weddings.”
The couple married just a few months after dating in July 2006, and no one, not even them, had a clue that they share blood.
The discovery was made when Celina took a DNA test through MyHeritage about 10 years into their marriage.
“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.'”
Naturally, Celina began wondering if they should continue to be together. “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.”
“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.”
The DNA test from MyHeritage indicates that Celina and Joseph are between second to seventh cousins which means the closest relative that they could potentially have in common would be a great-grandparent. However, Celina has put a pause on researching her family tree for now.
DNA Gone Viral
Celina brought her findings to TikTok with the idea that it would be “funny,” but, the mother three received mixed reviews from users.
“There’s a lot of negative comments, it’s horrible,” Celina told PEOPLE. “People keep asking, ‘Why would you do that? Why would you post this?'”
Celina wasn’t letting it bring her down though, saying, “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.”
She also admitted to not thinking that the TikTok of her DNA results would go viral the way that it did. “I didn’t think anything of it,” she said.
In the end, she isn’t upset with her decision to publicly share her findings. “I feel a little more free,” she stated. “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?”