With a global population of 8.1 billion people, finding a partner who doesn’t share the same DNA should be a breeze. Yet, about 250,000 people in the United States, who are married to a cousin, are keeping it in the family.
That’s what happened to one woman, who after five months of dating, learned the man she believed to be “the one,” was the one in her father’s family photos.
Keep reading to learn more about the woman who became entangled with her relative!
A woman in her mid 20s shared her unfortunate story on Reddit, explaining that her excitement over her new man, whom she met on a dating app, turned into absolute horror.
“I was talking to this guy on Hinge who had the softest of hazel eyes, and at the time, I thought he was the one,” writes the woman, who goes by the name Gelicca. “After exchanging a few messages, we decide to go on a date, and one thing lead to another, and we were a couple.”
After five months together, the woman and her boyfriend, also in his mid 20s, wanted to take their relationship to the next step and meet the other’s families.
As their families lived on opposite sides of the country, the big introduction would take a lot of planning and careful consideration.
“We were moved away from home and hadn’t had time to meet each other’s parents,” she writes. “Instead of doing the traditional, I’ll bring you over to meet my parents, and I’ll go over to meet yours, we decided for a dinner with both our parents.”
The author pens she was nervous about her parents meeting her new boyfriend because, at the time, she hadn’t known they were already acquainted.
Family reunion
“When my father stood up from the table to introduce himself to my boyfriend’s mother, his face turned completely white, as he was looking directly at his cousin (Uncle’s daughter). It took her a second to realize as well,” the woman says.
The poster explains their parents hadn’t seen each other in close to 30 years. “We could tell something was wrong the way our parents looked at each other, and they informed us that we were related.”
That her and her then-boyfriend left their respective states and came together in the same city was a shocking coincidence.
Taboo
Cousin marriage – consanguinity – accounts for about 10% of the world’s relationship population. According to reports, it’s “a deeply rooted social trend among one-fifth of the world population mostly residing in the Middle East, West Asia and North Africa.”
But not so much in the United States, unless you live in one of the 20 states (and the District of Columbia) that allows it.
Not wanting to be scrutinized – and wanting to do the right thing – the young couple, who was deeply in love, decided to call it quits.
“Even though we loved each other, we decided it wasn’t right to do. That was one of the hardest breakups of my life, but it had to be done for the sake of our family. I told my friends that it didn’t work out and silently removed everything from social media,” she writes.
‘Finding out about this atrocity’
Creating a new Reddit account to spare the embarrassment from her commonly used profile, the woman says she is “horrified” over the incident. “You hear this story millions of times of people unknowingly hooking up with their relatives and finding out about this atrocity in the most awkward ways, and mine was no exception.”
Online users flocked to the comments section offering their support.
“I’m sorry, that sounds like a rough situation. Mad respect for breaking it off quietly,” writes one user. A second shares, “The hardest break ups are the ones over circumstance, rather than incompatibility or personal issues.”
Meanwhile, others chime in with culturally differing opinions. One writes, “I come from a country where parents would be delighted at this revelation!”
“Yeah I have an uncle and aunt who are first cousins. Sure, it’s a bit of an odd situation and other family members murmur about it behind closed doors, no doubt, but they have a healthy child and they’re a happy family.”
The user, clarifying his family is not “sweethomealabama style,” continues, “That being said it’s a messy situation in the family regardless of whether you choose to pursue it or break it off.”
Other cyber fans opted to find the humor in the very uncomfortable family dinner.
“They all ordered the meatloaf. And everyone agreed that it tasted just like Grandma used to make it,” joked one Redditor. Another quips, “Maybe they were eating at Olive Garden, where everyone is family.”
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