A woman who married and had children with her stepbrother has responded to the backlash they've received on social media.

Lindsay and her spouse Cade Brown have gained lots of attention on their TikTok page - which goes by the handle @girl_meets_bro - for their unusual love story which began when they were just 14.

According to The Sun, the pair met in school, with Lindsay sharing that she used to sneak her future spouse into her house late at night until her mom got wind and banned them from seeing each other.

At the time, Lindsay and Cade’s parents were not yet married, with Lindsay explaining: "They were just acquaintances really," and adding: "Everything kind of started to come to a head around that time."

Unsure of her path in life, the TikToker joined the Air Force and moved to Texas leaving Cade behind. However, their romance blossomed again years later and they reconnected over social media and quickly recoupled.

Lindsay claims the distance made their love stronger as the two eventually wed in 2014 - only for her mom and Cade's father to also tie the knot a few years later.

In a video shared on the platform, the content creator stated: "No, our parents did not get married first. We did," and expressed that the confusing family tree doesn't bother anyone as "their families have blended really well" and that they are "all happy".

Despite explaining the chaotic order of marital events, the couple has been regularly targeted by trolls who leave comments like: "All I can think but no disrespect [is] SWEET HOME ALABAMA."

Another confused user even asked: "So your kids will be your nephew and nieces in-laws and your kids?", while a third quipped: "Arkansas? Alabama? West Virginia??"

One user even said their marriage was "an absolute train wreck waiting to happen," and added: "And I'm absolutely here for it."

Clearly unfazed, the parents (and step-siblings) hit back by sharing a video of them looking at the comment with disgust as SZA's song 'Blind' plays in the background.

Meanwhile, other people on the video-sharing page have been more accepting of the couple's love life, saying: "As long as y’all were together before they were it’s not as bad as it sounds."

Someone else even revealed a similar experience, penning: "We are in the same situation! We married then our parents married 3 years later," to which Lindsay replied: "It happens more than people would think! Glad I’m not alone!!!"

The TikToker may be correct as a commenter wrote that they and their partner "have known each other our whole lives" and that their parents "started dating, then we did".

"We got married then 4 years later our parents got married," they continued. "We have been married going in 14 years, 2 kids and 7 exchange student babies."

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Around the world, it is a generally accepted societal rule that you shouldn’t enter into romantic relationships with your family members. We are hardwired to think this way - to avoid the birth defects and complications in pregnancy which stem from incestuous sexual relationships.

However, this doesn’t deter the determined. In some cases, that their love is forbidden makes the situation seem all the more romantic. Now, two cousins are campaigning to be allowed to marry each other in their home state of Utah.

"My first cousin and I have been in love with each other our whole lives but we are prohibited from marrying in the state of Utah where we live," writes Angela Peang on the petition. "We believe that the law is outdated and it needs to be changed so that we can socially legitimise our love."

"We just always played a lot," Peang recalls of her relationship with Michael Lee. "We went into a closet and we were kissing and dancing together. It just felt really natural." However, natural as it may seem to them, their proposed marriage is forbidden by Utah state law.

"He told my mum he was going to marry me," Peang told CBS News. She didn’t take kindly to the idea, though. The two continued to see each other at family functions and were eventually caught kissing. "We got in trouble," she explains. "After that we were kind of kept apart."

The cousins married other people though neither of the two relationships lasted. After around 10 years, they eventually saw each other again - last Christmas, at their grandmother’s house. "We felt a lot of love and missed each other over the years," Peang said. "We decided that we were just going to be open with our love. It was really scary to think about how our family would react because they are conservative Mormons... we thought we might be excluded."

According to Peang, it was thought that their relationship could "threaten the family's identity" - perhaps in relation to their standing within the Mormon community. However, Peang also has three children from her previous relationship the youngest of whom was all for her new relationship. That said, her two eldest daughters thought it was “wrong” and “weird”.

But, as Peang explains, "they started to come around eventually and when we told them we were getting married they were like, 'OK, we're cool'”. The couple then got married in the comparatively libertarian state of Colorado where first cousins are legally permitted to wed. However, this isn’t quite enough to seal the deal for the happy couple - who believe they should be allowed to get married in their native Utah.

Their aim is for the petition, hosted on Care2 Petitions, to reach 1,000 signatures. At the time of writing, it has a remarkably healthy 272. Furthermore, while changing Utah state law may seem like something of a lost cause, other states - as we have seen - are more lenient and Utah actually already allows marriage between first cousins in two special circumstances. This is according to section 30-1-1 of Utah state code.

The first circumstance, alluding to the issue of genetically defective offspring, is that “both parties are 65 years of age or older”. The second is that “both parties are 55 years of age or older, upon a finding by the district court, located in the district in which either party resides, that either party is unable to reproduce”. Though sadly for Peang and Michael, this just won’t do.

One interesting aspect of their story is that they spent around a decade without seeing each other. It is this time apart which, according to the theory of Genetic Sexual Attraction (GSA), can create strong feelings of romantic love between family members.

The key difference, however, is that GSA occurs when family members first meet as adults. Cases have included both siblings and mothers and children separated at birth. The overwhelming feelings of elation and emotional connection are sometimes then confused for feelings of lust and romance.

“I was the head of an organisation called Truth Seekers in Adoption, which was reuniting adoptees and birth parents,” explained Barbara Gonyo to CNN. Gonyo is widely credited with coining the term in the late 1980s and experienced the condition first hand.

“So, I was quite familiar with people meeting before I met him, you know?” she continues. “It took me a while to find him. And, I did not even understand that I would have feelings like this. I never knew anything about it. And, I went to a conference one time for adoptees and reunited people. And, one of the girls in the - was talking in one of the forums. And, she said that she had met her brother and she said, ‘I cannot get over how I feel about my brother’. She said, ‘I want to hop on a motorcycle behind him’. She said. ‘I am actually attracted to him’. She said, ‘I do not know, it is like a genetic sexual attraction.’”

“I thought, well, that is really strange,” Gonyo adds. “But, then as I got to know my son, I found myself having these feelings for him. Then I thought, ‘Why am I feeling that way about him? He is my son’. But, he was never allowed to be my son. He was somebody else’s son. And he looked exactly like his birth father. It was very confusing feelings for me. I did not know what to do with those feelings. I tried to discuss it with him, but he was never interested in discussing it. He was ashamed to even talk about it. So, I do not know if he ever really had the feelings himself or I was carrying them by myself.”

Strictly speaking, GSA cannot be applied to the case of Peang and Michael who, for better or worse, have each simply fallen for their first cousin. Whatever happens with them, let’s hope things work out for the best. After all, as one of the comments on their Care2 page states, “love is love”. You can sign their petition online, should you feel inclined.

A couple has revealed that they could actually be half-sisters.

Despite the bombshell news, the TikTokers are still considering staying together - even if they do turn out to be related.

As well as being TikTok stars, Canadian couple Carley Gonschior and Mercedes Stewart also run an OnlyFans account together. In their social media videos, they are often open about the fact that neither of them grew up with a father in their lives.

However, this took on a whole new significance when - two years into their relationship - Carley and Mercedes found out that their moms both slept with the same man, and therefore that they might have the same biological dad.

The pair took to TikTok to share the concerning discovery with their 619,000 plus followers in a now-viral video that has racked up over 8.4 million views.

"When u find out 2 years into dating that ur moms both slept with the same guy," they wrote onscreen in the clip. The couple also added a caption asking followers: "Should we take a DNA test?"

Unsurprisingly, people were stunned by the revelations. Thousands took to the comments section to share their opinion, with many pointing out that Carley and Mercedes do share a striking resemblance with one another.

"DUDE PLS IVE ALWAYS THOUGHT U LOOK ALIKE," one viewer wrote, while another agreed: "That could explain why you two look like sisters."

"If we’re actually related is it wrong to stay together?" Carley and Mercedes asked their followers in a comment. The response was mixed. One person thought it would be okay, saying: "The only problem is society. They can't have kids together so what issues can it cause."

Another was outraged, writing: "Are you serious? Are you trying to justify INCEST?"

In later videos, the couple appears relatively unphased by the prospect of being siblings. In one, they jokingly discussed doing a DNA test - but worried that if they kissed during the 24 hours before the results might be affected.

In other clips, they continue to cozy up to each other and joke about their bizarre scenario.

As for the results of the DNA test - those are still yet to be revealed.

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A woman who claimed to have "married her stepdad" has opened up about the shocking details of her marriage.

Christy, from Florida, took to social media last year to discuss the workings of her relationship and it's recently gone viral again and caused a stir online.

The content creator posted a video talking about her husband - who she claimed was also her stepfather at one point - and the wedding they had in Vegas.

The clip, which has now been viewed over 25.5. million times, showed the mom-of-three with her legs wrapped around her man while giving him kisses alongside a text overlay that read: "Marrying my stepdad was the best decision I’ve ever made."

This was accompanied by some pretty shocking hashtags that read: "#marryyourmomsex", "#agegap", and "#itsworthit".

Of course, TikTok users couldn't help but take to the comments and express their shock at what they had just witnessed.

"I thought I read that wrong or I was too h*gh but nope," wrote one user, while another added: "Wait... She slid in there and snatched her moms man."

"No side eye here I’m full on head straight judging," a third commented.

And perhaps the most common type of comment read: "What in the sweet home Alabama is going on here."

Credit: TikTok

Those types of comments did not stop Christy from sharing further details about their relationship in a follow-up video.

"Let's clear some things up," Christy said in a separate clip. "Was I 'groomed'? No. Was I minor when I met him? No. Did my stepdad raise me? No. Do me and my mom still talk? Yes. Did he have kids with my mom? No."

She also talked about how the pair got together.

Chrissy opened up about losing her brother Shaun Christopher Harris, who was also her "best friend."

Following his death, she began to grow close with Shaun's best friend - not her stepfather - and eventually began dating him although "no one thought they would last."

"Soon after, we got pregnant with our first daughter together, Kali Shine...named after my brother," the mom said. "Then came our first son Kash Christopher, who was also named after him."

Christy explained she found out that she was pregnant with her second daughter, Krue Reign, the day after her nuptials in Vegas.

"Now y'all can leave my kids and brother alone," she captioned the clip.

She said that she originally posted that it was someone who her mother had dated as a joke to poke fun at the pair's 16-year age gap.

That didn't stop the barrage of hate though.

"I also wanted to prove that everyone will be upset and believe anything they see on the internet nowadays," Christy said. "They were mad when I ‘married my stepdad,’ and they were mad when I posted my real story and found out that it wasn’t actually my stepdad. The internet feeds on the drama."

She continued: "The amount of death threats I received, wishing that my children were born without arms and legs and they were glad my brother had died, and they wanted to call [child protective services] on me.

"It was absolutely insane," she added.

Just to confirm once again, Chrissy is not married to her stepdad, she is just in an age-gap relationship.

Featured Image Credit: Anna Blazhuk/Getty

A woman was left mortified to find out that her husband - and father of the baby she was pregnant with at the time - was actually related to her.

Marcella Hill, 41, shared her story on TikTok, revealing how she and her husband Tage found out that they were actually third cousins.

She admitted she'd "never publicly told anyone" that she and her husband are cousins, but decided to share the news to her almost 300,000 followers in one go - and the video has now racked up almost a million views.

Marcella began: "So I've never publicly told anyone but I accidentally married my cousin..."

Explaining how the shocking revelation came to light, Marcella continued: "I was sitting on the couch looking for names for the baby that we were about to have and I was on [genealogy site] FamilySearch."

She looked at names going back generations in her family, as her husband did the same for his own, hoping to find inspiration for a moniker for their impending baby.

"Husband's next to me on his own FamilySearch and he's like, 'Oh that's funny, we have the same grandma and grandpa's names.'

"I look at this line and it's all the same as mine. So I think, 'Oh no, no, you're still logged into my account.'"

It was then that Marcella came to the realization that no parents-to-be want to have... the reason she and Tage had the same names on their family tree was because they were actually relatives.

She continued: "Then we start looking at it and we realize my grandpa is his grandma's first cousin. So he calls his grandma and I call my grandpa and we asked them if they know each other.

"Sure enough, sure do. They lived together when they were growing up as children. We are third cousins."

Marcella also revealed that she and Tage had even won a prize for "being the closest related in a neighborhood activity" and the benefit of being third cousins is that they get to go to the same family reunions together.

Some viewers had questions about how the couple didn't realize they were related sooner - such as at their wedding.

They commented: "how didn't y'all realize this at the wedding?", and: "Did your grandparents not come to your wedding or any other family events before you were married?"

Marcella responded to the questions in a follow-up video, clarifying: "We got married at a courthouse after work on a Wednesday.

"Let's say we had the wedding, and my grandpa and his grandma were there, and we found out that we were third cousins at the wedding, what were supposed to do?"

Other followers were less worried about the pair sharing a gene pool, adding: "3rd cousins not a huge deal, you’re good, hilarious though."

Another wrote: "Hilarious!!! Why are some of you trying to shame her? 3rd cousins isn’t Flowers in the Attic."

One user also joked: "so in a way your baby is it’s own 4th cousin."

Featured image credit: Jacek Sopotnicki / Alamy