A happily-married woman’s world was turned upside down after a DNA test led her to question her marriage.
Celina and Joseph Quinones had swiftly progressed from courtship to marriage, tying the knot just four months after meeting and later having three children. It was curiosity about their diverse family backgrounds that prompted Celina to delve into her genealogy.
Speaking on the Love Don’t Judge podcast, she said: “I started really diving into my DNA because I wanted to find out my heritage my daughter is really dark-skinned, and my son has curly hair my middle child is light-skinned, and everyone would ask ‘what are you what are you? ‘ I couldn’t really give an answer except Native American.”
The Colorado-based couple both submitted DNA tests only to discover they were cousins. Celina confessed: “When I realised that we were cousins I was a little sick to my stomach,” adding, “I was thinking, ‘Should we get a divorce? Are we even supposed to be together?'”
She then unexpectedly went viral after sharing their startling connection on TikTok, not anticipating the backlash it would provoke.
Reflecting on the harsh online response, Celina admitted: “I did not know it was going to blow up that big,” recounting one particularly harsh comment: “One person on there said ‘this is so disturbing, why would you marry your cousin? ‘”.
Celina recounts that the comments online were numerous, with another saying: “They look so much alike, how did they not know?” Others expressed sympathy for the children, hoping bullying would not ensue, with remarks such as: “I feel bad for the kids, hopefully people don’t bully them” while another individual admitted: “I’d be embarrassed if I were those kids.”
The couple’s teenage sun admitted the discovery felt “a little bit weird”. “It’s not something you want to brag about or put out to the world or anything,” he said.
“If they found out before they got married I think there’d be something obviously wrong with that but since they found out after there’s there’s not one single problem.”
Remarkably, no family members recognised each other during Celina and Josephs nuptials. It emerged only later that due to Joe’s grandmother on his father’s side having adopted in conjunction with poor record keeping, their biological connection remained unnoticed.
Highlighting the deceptive size of societal connections, Celina said: “Colorado seems so big, but it’s really not that big,” adding, “Everyone knows everyone, and most likely, everyone is related.”
In an innovative response to prevent others from encountering similar scenarios, the couple has initiated a unique dating service named Before We Be, aiming to provide safeguards against entering into relationships with undisclosed relatives.