Couple with 3 Kids Find Out They're Cousins After Taking DNA Test 10 Years Into Marriage: 'I Was in Shock'

A married couple with three children discovered they were cousins after taking a DNA test to learn more about their family tree.

Celina Quinones, a realtor from Colorado, shared the news in a TikTok video that has been viewed over 4.4 million times since it was posted in March — and reaction to the video has so far been mixed.

"There's a lot of negative comments, it's horrible," Celina tells PEOPLE. "People keep asking, 'Why would you do that? Why would you post this?' But 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."

Just after a few months of dating, Celina married her husband, Joseph Quinones, in July 2006. Though their families met then, no one suspected they were related.

"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," she recalls.

Adds Joseph: "We didn't think about it. I never saw her at family reunions, funerals, or weddings."

But they made the discovery when Celina began piecing together a family tree and 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.'"

After reading the results, Celina admits she began doubting whether she and Joseph should 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."

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Celina, who wrote a book about her life called The Dream Catcher's Keeper, says she doesn't know to what degree she and her husband are related. The DNA tests indicated they are between second to seventh cousins, she says, so the closest relative they could potentially have in common would be a great-grandparent.

Celina says she paused researching her family tree after discovering the consanguinity, but adds that she hopes to eventually learn about the ancestry that connects her and Joseph.

As for why Celina decided to announce the unexpected news on TikTok, she says, in the moment, she thought it would be "funny."

"I didn't think anything of it," she says. "I didn't think it would go this viral."

But she is glad she did it.

"I feel a little more free," she says. "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?"