Couple decide to stay married after claiming they found out they're cousins

It's the sort of scenario which fills married couples with dread - what if by some freak chance, you were related?

That might seem like a far-fetched thing to happen, but horrifyingly it has. One couple from Brazil once found out they were long-lost siblings whose mother had abandoned them together, after getting married and having children together. Yikes.

Fortunately things were not quite so bad for one couple on TikTok, who found out that they were cousins after being married for three years.

A video posted to the social media platform - which has been viewed 5.7 million times - sees couple standing together before sharing a kiss with the caption 'over 3 years into our marriage and we just found out we are cousins'.

In for a penny in for a pound, I suppose!

The couple did not go into any detail about the precise nature of how they're related, leaving many viewers figuratively tearing themselves apart over just how closely related they are.

TikTok / tyleewaters

While the exact nature of the relationship is not clear, Utah law and the fact they've chosen to stay together gives us a few clues.

In Utah, you cannot get married to anyone who is your first cousin or closer. That would be considered a crime, but anyone more distant than that is fair game.

Just to settle this question once and for all, a first cousin is the child of your uncle or aunt, with 'once-removed' being that that person's child. A second cousin is the children of your parents' first cousins.

Basically, if your grandparents are the same people then keep your hands off each other.

TikTok / tyleewaters

But if you and your first cousin just really, really fancy each other then fear not, there is a loophole. You may have to wait a while though. If both parties are over 65 they can marry, and if they are over 55 and the court finds that they can't have children.

Love is patient!

Needless to say, people had a lot of things to say in the comments.

One said: "Same thing happened to us. Married for three years with a kid and then found out we’re 5th cousins once removed."

Another posted: "My parents are third cousins. They also did research because their families were from same area."

A third wrote: "I dated a guy for a short time who had my family last name. We had to check to make sure we weren’t related."