- The unnamed man, believed to be from the US, took to the Quora platform
- In the post, which recently resurfaced, he unraveled the unusual situation
- Surprisingly, almost all commenters advised him not to worry about it
A man is devastated after discovering that his wife of six years is actually his cousin.
After the discovery, the unnamed man, believed to be from the US, took to the discussion platform Quora to seek advice.
In the post, which has recently resurfaced, he unraveled the unusual situation when he said he had unknowingly been married to a relative for almost a decade.
And dozens of bewildered readers flocked to the comments to share their thoughts on the debate.
A man is left devastated after discovering his wife of six years is actually his cousin (stock image)
After the discovery, the unnamed man, believed to be from the US, took to the discussion platform Quora to seek advice
The message read: ‘What should I do? I just found out I married my cousin.
“We only found out we were related after we had been married for six years.”
He gave no further details about how the truth came to light, but readers were quick to offer their advice – with the vast majority being quite reassuring.
‘To what extent are you cousins? First cousins are a problem for children, but second or third cousins are much less of a problem.
‘My husband and I found out we are second cousins after being removed based on ancestry, but we had both already taken the DNA tests and we didn’t show up to each other’s matches because the percentage of shared DNA is so low as to be negligible is.
“It turns out his parents are also fifth cousins, and they didn’t know it. This is a danger when families have lived in one area for generations!’ they continued, adding, “If you’re happy in your marriage, I wouldn’t worry about it.”
A second chimed in: ‘It’s not that big of a deal actually. Nineteen states have no restrictions on cousin marriage at all, and most others allow it under certain circumstances.
‘If you are planning to have children, you can get genetic counseling to better understand the risks and what your options are. Historically, cross-cousin marriages have been unrestricted and even encouraged in many cultures.
And dozens of bewildered readers flocked to the comments to share their thoughts on the debate
“The genetic risks increase significantly if, for example, your parents or your partner’s parents are also cousins, and this risk has been the impetus behind limiting cousin marriages,” they wrote.
A third agreed the man should do ‘nothing’.
He added: ‘People have been marrying their cousins for centuries. (Charles Darwin is just one example).”
This isn’t the first married couple to discover they are cousins years into their relationship.
Last year, DailyMail.com reported the story of Utah couple Tylee and Nick Waters, who were married for three years before realizing they were cousins.
In 2002, The New York Times reported on findings showing that children of cousins are only less likely to have genetic defects than children of unrelated parents.
Although the rate of problems in children in the general population is 3 to 4 percent, it was found that cousins are only 1.7 to 2.8 percent more likely to have children born with genetic problems.