Celina Quinones and her husband Joseph felt that they were soulmates from the first moment they saw each other. The two had a connection that is difficult to explain, always feeling that they were meant to be together. After a 10-year marriage and three children together, however, the two learned a truth that threw their life into disarray.
Celina, who works as a real estate agent, made the discovery when she started putting together their family tree and took a DNA test to find out more details. When the results came back, the whole family was in shock. It turned out that she and Joseph are cousins.
The moment they met, the two felt they had a strong bond, so they married just months after first meeting. Although their families had met, no one suspected they might be related.
“We ended up getting married very soon after we had met each other. Our grandmothers seemed to look a lot alike. This was obvious from the first moment, but no one took it seriously. It never once occurred to us that we might be related. Before we met, we didn’t see each other at events where the whole family gathered,” Celina recalls.
After reading the results, Celina admitted that she began to doubt her relationship with Joseph and thought it wouldn’t be right for them to be together.
“I was in shock. I was a bit depressed about it, to be honest, even though we already have three children and they’re all healthy,” Celina says, adding: “I started thinking about whether we should get a divorce or at least stop living together. Then, after a while, we decided to stay together. There’s nothing we can do about it. I’m not going to let some blood come between us.”
Celina, who has written a book about her life called The Dream Catcher’s Keeper, says she doesn’t know to what extent she and her husband are related. DNA tests have shown they could be cousins up to the seventh degree, which would mean the only close relative the two have would be a great-grandparent.
The woman shared the story on her TikTok account, and the video has been viewed more than 4.4 million times. The post received mixed reactions, with some users finding their relationship strange.
“There’s a lot of negative comments, it’s horrible,” Celina admitted to People magazine. “People keep asking: ‘Why would you do that? Why would you post that?”
As for why Celina decided to announce the unexpected news on TikTok, she says that at the time, she thought it would be “funny.”
“I didn’t think of anything,” she says. “I didn’t think it would go so viral. But now I feel a little freer.”