I'm a firm believer that you should never ask a question unless you're 100% prepared for an honest answer. But sometimes, even the most prepared person can be caught totally off-guard.
For instance, when a friend of Reddit user Smoke_Water and his wife took a DNA test, they were only looking to learn more about their family tree. What they discovered is that they're actually cousins!
"So my friend came to me the other day asking for advise. He said his wife is strongly considering divorce." they wrote.
"I said "what? Why after 23 years?" He said they took a dna test as part of their family history research and discovered they are 6ths cousins. They share a single common grandparent."
"This caused his wife to freaked out over the thought that she's had 3 kids with her cousin. When they found out, she ran to the bathroom and started throwing up."
"Kept screaming how her whole life has been a lie. How she can't understand how she could have been so stupid."
"Saying it doesn't matter because they are so far removed, Generally they are not related. He is so regretful that they even took the test and really wished things were back to normal. but the damage is done. This pandora box is open and its all she can think about."
"Her parents have tried talking with her, her siblings, friends, coworkers, and all say the same thing, its not a big deal."
"How she is now just a common idiot hillbilly."
"I said to my friend, wow, this really sucks but what do you want me to do? What could I possibly say that would help? He asked me what I think he should do and if possible, if I could talk with her."
"He also said she always listens to me. I told him to give me a few days to think about it."
"I dont know what or how to even approch this. So im looking to you. What can I say?"
Thankfully, tons of people came into the replies to help him.
"If it would ease her mind, your friend could try making an appointment with a genetic counsellor," they began.
"This is a professional who knows all about genetics and family relationships."
"And that this degree of relation between spouses of the same ethnic background is extremely common."
"The "oh yuck, inbreeding" knee-jerk reaction is strong, and she might not be able to rationally process what this actually means (again, almost nothing) until she has had time to calm down.
"I think it's much simpler than that and probably just a woman freaking out at recently discovering there may be some consanguinity to her marriage (a natural reaction that I think most people would)."
And what do you think the friend should say to her?
Let us know your thoughts down below in the comment section. We would love to hear from you!
