Celina knew Joseph was her soul mate, but a test result revealed just how much they had in common…
Dolled up and with a drink in hand, I was having a great time at a friend’s party.
Then I noticed an attractive man looking at me from across the room.
I knew his name was Joseph — he was the brother of my best friend’s boyfriend.
‘C’mon, I’ll introduce you. I’ve been wanting to set you up,’ she said with a cheeky grin.
‘Hey Joe, this is Celina,’ she said as we approached him.
We quickly fell into easy conversation.
By the time we left, we’d arranged a date.
After that, life got busy and we eventually lost touch.
But two years later, my best friend surprised me.
‘I’ve organised a double date so you can meet Joe again,’ she said.
I was 20 and single, so I was excited to see him.
When the day came around, we were having a blast at a bowling alley.
Mid-game, Joe, 26, turned to me.
‘If I hit a strike, will you kiss me?’ he asked.
'These tests are extremely accurate'
‘OK,’ I smiled.
Lo and behold, he knocked all the pins down on his next go.
We leant in for our first kiss — and I fell for him instantly.
We quickly became a couple and he was the best partner I could’ve asked for.
We were two peas in a pod and people even told us we looked alike.
‘Are you sure you’re not related?’ a friend joked.
I took our physical similarities as another sign that Joe and I were soul mates.
Three months later, he took me to the park near my childhood home.
Suddenly, he got down on one knee.
‘Celina, I love you so much. Will you marry me?’ he asked as he pulled out a ring.
I gasped.
‘Yes! Of course I will,’ I replied.
I felt like the luckiest girl in the world.
He later told me he’d asked my dad for my hand in marriage first which meant a lot to me.
We couldn’t wait to get married, so we had our wedding a few months later.
As the years went by, life was bliss.
We had three beautiful children — two boys followed by a girl.
I’d always been curious about mine and Joe’s Native American heritage.
One day, I decided to look into it because I’d been putting it off too long.
I found a bundle deal for two types of DNA tests in one.
When they arrived, I swabbed the inside of my cheek, following the instructions.
I posted it back and in the meantime, I created an online account so I could access my results.
Two months later, my phone pinged with a new email.
Your DNA test results, it read.
I excitedly logged in and I couldn’t believe how many distant cousins I had.
Because they didn’t all have my surname, I decided to narrow the search down.
I typed in my surname, Quinones, and pressed enter.
Then I spotted a name that stopped me in my tracks.
Joseph Quinones.
I felt the blood drain from my face, My husband is my cousin, I realised in horror.
'I don't want us to break up'
I rushed to show Joe.
‘What’s wrong? You’re white as a ghost,’ he said.
‘Babe, look at this,’ I replied.
Showing him his name on my family tree, his eyes widened.
‘That’s not true,’ he said.
‘These tests are extremely accurate,’ I reasoned.
But he didn’t want to believe it and went into denial.
I didn’t blame him, because I was finding it hard to accept too.
After some digging, I found out we were either third, fourth or fifth cousins.
We were connected through the paternal side of my family.
No wonder we look alike, I suddenly realised.
As the days went on, I found it hard to look at Joe the same way.
It broke my heart, because he was still the love of my life.
We’d been married for 10 years, but now I wondered whether we had to break up.
Is it wrong for us to be together? I wondered.
I was overwhelmed and confused.
Soon, it all became too much and I was diagnosed with depression.
Then, because of our shared DNA, I started to worry that our kids would have health issues.
I took them to the GP to be checked over.
‘They’re all fine and they don’t have any underlying conditions,’ he said.
‘Thank goodness,’ I replied.
It was a weight off my mind, but how would I explain everything to them?
They were four, seven and eight so I decided to wait until they were older.
But I knew I had to tell my parents.
‘It’s not like you’re first cousins, so don’t worry,’ my mum said.
But Dad didn’t believe it.
‘I’ll take a test too then,’ he said.
When he got the results back, Joe was on his family tree.
He was shocked.
‘See?’ I told him.
I also told my best friend, who found the funny side, but I was too embarrassed to tell anyone else.
It felt like a dirty secret and I was petrified of what people would say.
As time went on, it became an elephant in the room.
Joe and I tried to act like everything was normal.
We rarely even mentioned it.
But we weren’t being as affectionate with each other and I knew it was because we were battling confusion over our relationship.
Joe was trying to sweep it all under the rug, but I was constantly worried.
‘I don’t know if we should stay together. It’s all so weird,’ I told him, teary-eyed.
‘No, don’t say that. Divorce is the last thing I want,’ he replied.
We carried on living as normally as we could, but it was always on my mind.
Two years later, I got chatting to Joe about a cousin of mine.
‘He’s my cousin too!’ he exclaimed.
Finally, he accepted we were related.
From then on, we started to come to terms with it.
‘I know it’s hard, but I don’t want us to break up,’ Joe said one day.
‘Me neither. If we love each other, why should we?’ I replied.
With a lot of communication and understanding, we worked through it.
Eventually, we saw the funny side.
‘Even if we broke up, we’d never be rid of each other because we’re family,’ I laughed.
When our sons were 10 and 11, I sat them down to explain everything.
Our daughter was only seven, so I decided not to tell her yet.
‘Mum and Dad took a test and found out we’re related,’ I told the boys.
‘Does that mean we’re siblings and cousins too?’ they asked.
I tried to explain as best I could.
I knew the most important thing was that they could see how much their parents loved each other.
Eventually, I was tired of being embarrassed and ashamed.
Instead, I focused on the positives of our relationship.
One day, I took the plunge and revealed our secret to the world by posting a video on TikTok.
I received lots of messages of support.
Of course, we got a few nasty comments, but we chose to ignore them.
Some people say they’re concerned for our children’s health, but I always say the same thing.
‘They’ve got 10 fingers and 10 toes,’ I tell them jokily.
I’m still trying to find out how exactly Joe and I are related, because our family tree is complicated.
From all the DNA sites I’ve scoured, my guess is we share a great, great grandparent.
Even though we both still struggle to wrap our heads around it, our love for each other is unbreakable.
I recently told my daughter everything when she turned 10.
She and the boys have been so understanding.
They have a loving, stable home and we’re not going to let a test result ruin that.
In a way, I think our shared DNA proves that Joe and I were meant to be together.
Celina Quinones, 38