Getting a DNA test is exciting, to say the least. But it’s an excitement that can be interpreted in several ways.
For instance, do you want to learn about your heritage and where you come from? Nice, go get it. Do you, however, accept that there is a non-zero chance that you will also learn something you wish you have never learned at all? You know, a dark family secret like your dad isn’t really your dad, or that you were adopted, or the fact that you have married your first cousin?
Speaking of which, a Redditor recently shared a story of how he ended up figuring the latter out by simply gifting his wife a DNA test kit.
More info: Reddit
While DNA tests are great gifts, they can turn on you and point out that the person you married is actually a cousin or something
Image credits: Vivian Evans (not the actual photo)
Reddit user u/PM_MeMyPassword (with whom Bored Panda got in touch for an interview) recently went to the TIFU, or Today I Effed Up, subreddit with quite a unique story.
So, both OP and his wife grew up in a small town in the South. Both of their families have been living there for quite some time now. Both of these lovely individuals also had previous marriages and 3 kids each from those marriages, and there are no plans for any more now that they are together. Last year OP got his wife an Ancestry DNA kit as a gift. Apparently, she wanted to know more about her European roots, and her sister decided to do the same.
As you might have guessed by this point, the results came in and the test began making connections they didn’t quite expect. Apparently, OP’s wife was genetically related to his mother, oldest son, his uncle… this is where most people in this situation would get a sense of impending doom.
In this case, that is exactly what happened to this man, leading to his now-viral post on the TIFU subreddit
Image credits: u/PM_MeMyPassword
So, they asked the wife’s mother about the relations here, and she started crying and explains that when she was younger, she once overheard someone claim that her father is not who she always thought her dad was. She simply put it out of her mind, convinced herself it was a mere rumor. Turns out, not quite.
OP calls his mom, asks if she ever heard such a rumor, and mom goes quiet. After a brief moment, she confirms that she has heard rumors, and her mother actually thought it was true. His grandpa was known to be a womanizer back then.
So, they follow up the information on 23&Me, a genomics and biotechnology company who do DNA tests, and again they get confirmation that the wife shares a great grandparent with his oldest son.
“More of us are now getting tests on the same platform but it appears a WW2-era secret has come to light,” concluded OP with a joke.
After seeing a number of connections confirmed by the test, OP did some detective work and verified the results with the mothers who also turned out to be half-sisters
Image credits: u/PM_MeMyPassword
OP recalled that, at first, he wanted to tell someone about this whole situation "without telling someone". Through laughter and posting the story on r/TIFU, he started feeling less weird about it, and the story turned into this huge inside joke.
"[Since then,] some other family members found out. Wife's mom seems to still be in denial and doesn't want to talk about it," added OP. "It's definitely more common than most people think. It's more likely in small towns. I don't think anyone would make a big deal out of our exact situation but would probably frown upon someone who knew ahead of time.
Since the story raised many questions, OP elaborated in further edits, but retaining his sense of humor on the situation
Image credits: u/PM_MeMyPassword
He also gave some updates to the post, like pointing out that his wife was laughing at first, but the reality of it all caught up to her, and that neither he, nor his wife are thinking of changing anything—they are in love and they want to stay that way.
In under a day, the post got 38,000 upvotes and over 30 Reddit awards, including the subreddit’s exclusive TIFU award, and generated over 2,700 comments.
Despite the cultural context, people didn't pass judgement, and some actually shared their own stories, proving that it's not that uncommon
Image credits: u/PM_MeMyPassword
In the comments, people shared their own Surprise! We’re related! stories, while others explained that they don’t see anything wrong here—it’s not like they could’ve known. Besides that, one Redditor estimated that if they are first half-cousins, they share around 6 percent of DNA, which is not all that significant if they end up wanting to have kids. If anything, who cares, it’s their decision.
Yet others pointed out that this isn’t all that uncommon, with one person saying that this happens around the world, not just in the South. In other countries, marrying cousins and other relatives was and still is culturally and religiously justified.
Image credits: u/PM_MeMyPassword
OP pointed out that the virality of his post did come as a surprise. Even more so, did not expect Redditors to be so supportive. Besides that, you gotta appreciate all the Alabama jokes and whatnot. "Although, I did get a small number of people accusing me of making it up or running an ad for 23&me. I can assure you that it's a very real story and still feels weird when I think about it." added OP.
Lastly, we've asked him if he has any advice, given his experience, and he had this to share: "Advice? [Screw] it, [romance] your cousin, but don't have children together. Keep those trees branching and never speak with a southern accent."
You can check it all out in the original post here, and we’d also love to hear what you think on the topic in the comment section below.