'I've been married to my husband for 17 years. A family tree stopped me in my tracks.'

Celina and Joseph's relationship started out just like many others.

In 2006, they met and fell in love. Then in a whirlwind romance, four months later they tied the knot.

Now 17 years on, they're still happily married and raising three children together. Seems like the simple, uncomplicated love we're all looking for, right?

Well, everything was smooth sailing until genetics got involved and revealed that Celina and Joseph Quinones' close bond ran a little deeper than a love connection. 

They are in fact, cousins. Blood relatives. Genetically matched. And seemingly, forever in love.

Over the past year, Celina hasn't been shy about sharing her unusual love story on TikTok — and grab the popcorn because this is a real doozy, folks.

"17 years with my cousband," Celina began in a voiceover in one TikTok video.

After ten years of marriage, Celina started looking into her family history after becoming interested in her heritage. But after uncovering a family tree, she was stopped in her tracks when she saw a very familiar name.

Her husband Joseph was listed as a cousin.

Watch: Woman finds out she accidentally married her cousin. Story continues below.

Neither of them could believe their eyes. Could it really be true that these long-lost cousins had unknowingly fallen in love and their paths had never crossed before?

While it might seem like a bit of a stretch Celina insists in one of her TikTok videos, "No we didn't know until we did a DNA test."

After the DNA test confirmed that the unbelievable circumstances were in fact true, Celina and Joseph were faced with a difficult dilemma to grapple with. But it didn't take them long to decided that despite sharing genetics, their love was too strong to deny.

"He is still and will be my everything," said Celina in a TikTok post. "I ain't gonna let a little bit of blood destroy what we created: this beautiful family."

So, how could something like this actually happen? Don't we all grow up knowing who our family members are?

According to Celina, who spoke to a US journalist about her story, it was quite easy for their closeness to go undetected. Apparently, Joseph's grandma was adopted and therefore a split occurred in the family tree meaning that they never knew their biological relatives.

@mrscelinaq First Colorado Interview. #science ♬ original sound - Mrs Celina Colorado

When it came time for their wedding both Celina and Joseph's relatives gathered together but ultimately had no idea many of them were already related.

"When we were at our wedding no one knew each other," said Celina.

To the outside world, it's hard to deny their appearances sure do have a family resemblance but Celina says their connection goes even deeper than that.

"Sometimes it gets a little weird to where we read each other's minds," she told the US journalist.

Celina, Joseph and their three children. Image: TikTok/@mrscelinaq

When we think about relatives who are married to each other there's a common stereotype whereby people naturally assume their offspring will have birth defects. 

In fact, science goes some ways in backing up this common public perception with one study showing that four to seven per cent of children born from first-cousin marriages result in birth defects.

@mrscelinaq #CapCut ♬ Whats a soulmate - csbyeol

Despite these figures, Celina has assured the public that all three children have "10 fingers, 10 toes."

Now, if you excuse us we're off to study our family trees extensively.

Feature Image: TikTok/@mrscelinaq

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