A former Jehovah's Witness has opened up about her experiences of finding out that her parents were siblings.
In a recent episode of the We’re All Insane podcast hosted by Devorah Roloff, Ohio native Vanessa opened up about her unique family background as a former Jehovah’s Witness.
At 46 years old, Vanessa shared the revelation that she grew up as "one of seven children born to a brother and sister," a discovery she made at the age of nine.
Reflecting on that moment, she recalled: "I was in third grade. I didn’t really understand whether that was right or wrong. I didn’t know."
Watch the interview below:Vanessa detailed her parents' marriage in 1974 when her mother was 19 and her father was 28.
She highlighted the unconventional circumstances surrounding their union, saying: "I guess back then they didn’t have to show a lot of ID. They had different last names. They did have different fathers… They swore under oath they were no closer of kin than second cousins, and they walked out with a marriage license."
The couple's affiliation with the Jehovah’s Witness church added complexity to their situation. Vanessa explained: "The entire congregation knew. I know people there didn’t like it, but if you talk against a decision, you’re going to get labeled an apostate, so they kind of had to deal with it."
Vanessa's mother went on to have a total of nine children, with two tragically passing away.
Despite the unconventional circumstances, Vanessa noted: "None of us really had any serious issues," except for one brother who was born with a "properly structured urinary system" and a "dead kidney."
Sharing her perspective on her mother's choices, Vanessa remarked: "So my mother was pregnant by her brother a total of nine times – seven live births and two miscarriages – and still got to be a Jehovah's Witness in good standing. She wasn’t that motherly. I honestly don’t know why she wanted so many children."
In a similar story of unconventional marriages, one woman discovered via a DNA test that she had accidentally married her cousin.
Colorado mother of three, Celina Quinones, shared her unexpected discovery that her partner of 17 years and father of her three children is, in fact, her biological cousin.
Celina took to TikTok, under the handle @cillycely, to narrate her unique story, captioning her video with: "Married my husband in 2006. Not thinking anything of it, we had three kids. Come to find out we were related and cousins."
According to the Daily Mail, Celina stumbled upon this shocking information while working on a family tree project. The DNA test unexpectedly revealed that she and her husband, Joseph, share a familial connection that neither of them was aware of during their 17-year relationship.
In a video shared on TikTok, Celina expressed: "Seventeen years with my 'cous-band.' No, we didn't know until we did a DNA test. We had a four-month courtship before we got married. He is still and will always be my everything. I ain't gonna let a little bit of blood destroy what we created; this beautiful family."