An at-home DNA test showed that my husband was my cousin. We worried for our kids — and I want to warn others.

• Celina Quinones and her husband, Joseph, did at-home DNA testing out of curiosity.
• The couple, who has three children together, was shocked by the results — they were cousins.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Celina Quinones. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I bought some at-home DNA tests for me and my husband, Joseph, because they were discounted at the time.

I'd been researching our family trees for about a year using MyHeritage.com. I'd scanned the public records on the site and been a little surprised to discover that the name De Herrera was featured in my family.

Joseph's mother had been a Herrera before she got married. But it's a relatively common name.

The at-home DNA kits seemed like the natural next step. We waited patiently for the results. They came about two months after I'd mailed in my sample along with Joseph's.

First, I looked at our ethnic origins. There were a lot of similarities in our heritage. Then I searched the database for the name Quinones. And, to my shock, Joseph's profile popped up. The data showed that we were related. I felt sick to my stomach.

I read that we could be as close to each other as second cousins. I couldn't believe it. But it was there on my screen. I told Joseph, "Babe, I need to tell you something. We're related." He looked at the results and said, "No way!"

He was in denial for the longest time. He said it was a lottery, and the findings weren't right. That's my husband.

My first thought was about our three children; whether they might experience any health difficulties. But they're fine. We sometimes joke that they all have ten fingers and ten toes.

We've discovered that the closest relative we could possibly have in common would be a great grandmother

But I went through a wave of emotions. I got depressed over it. I thought, "Oh my goodness. Are we supposed to be together?" I thought, "How on earth could I have married my cousin by accident?"

Then I thought, "We've been together for this long. We're just going to make things work," and "Let's make it out of this fire."

We've spent a lot of time trying to figure it out. The only thing we could think of was how our grandmas looked a bit alike. We'd noticed it when they met at our wedding in 2006.

We'll probably never know exactly to what degree we're related. But we've discovered that the closest relative we could possibly have in common would be a great-grandmother.

I've just published a book called "The Dream Catcher's Keeper." It's based on my life. I recently did a TikTok about our story, and it went viral.

Some comments have been negative — one person said I was "ungodly," and a few others said we should get divorced. But there's been an overwhelming amount of positivity.

People have said, "You have a beautiful family. Don't let anyone tell you any different." They've told stories about the shocks and surprises that their own home DNA tests have caused. It's Pandora's box. I want to warn other people that there are frequent consequences.

Now that our kids — Joseph, 15, Jacob, 14, and Jolina, 10 — are older, they're taking it in. My middle child was cute when he said to me, "I have a brother and a sister. Are they my cousins too?"