WHEN you've been in a relationship with someone for a number of years, you can't exactly blame someone for thinking they know EVERYTHING about their partner – including their family history.

However, one woman has had her entire world turned upside down after the results of a DNA test revealed that her husband is actually her first cousin.

In an emotional letter to Slate's Dear Prudence podcast, the woman explained how her and her husband grew up in the same small town.

The mum – who has a two-year-old son with her husband – decided to buy her partner a DNA test for his birthday.

However, the results have ended up "poisoning" her marriage as the couple struggle to come to terms with the fact that they're related.

She wrote: "The results came back saying we are actually first cousins on the paternal side.

He will not talk about this to me, we are sleeping in separate rooms and it is starting to affect our son. The secret is poisoning my marriage and I am terrified it will blow up the rest of our family…

"The news unsettles me and has left my husband's world in tatters."

To make matters even more confusing, the couple now suspect that this revelation could mean the husband's father was unfaithful to his wife.

She added: "His parents have been married for 30 years and my husband has always held his mother close to sainthood."

Can you legally marry your cousin in the UK?

• It is currently legal for you to marry your cousin in the UK, which means you wouldn't be breaking the law if you decided to wed the children of your aunts and uncles.
• However, it is a rather controversial subject, with some some studies showing it may increase the chance of defects in offspring.
• Each child has 23 pairs of chromosones with one chromosone from each pair inherited from the mother and the other from the father. The chromosomes contain the genes you inherit from your parents.
• Hereditary disorders and defects can occur in a child in different ways, but the one that could relate to cousins having children is known as autosomal recessive inheritance.
• This means the condition can only be passed on to a child if both parents have a copy of the faulty gene – both are "carriers" of the condition. And this is more likely if the parents are related.
• You can find out more about who you can and cannot marry in detail here.

The woman then went on to explain how her father-in-law is always boasting about "how he married the first girl he ever kissed".

Describing how the upsetting news has affected her husband, the woman added:"He will not talk about this to me, we are sleeping in separate rooms and it is starting to affect our son.

"The secret is poisoning my marriage and I am terrified it will blow up the rest of our family."

MOST READ IN FABULOUS

Unsurprisingly, the woman is cautious about confiding in her own family for fear it will get back to her husband.

Offering advice on how to approach her husband, podcast host Daniel Mallory Ortberg recommended that they try couple's therapy… and avoid buying DNA tests in future.

For more relationship horror stories, this groom has been slammed for showing up in "grass stained jeans" to his nuptials – while his bride wore a full length wedding gown.

And this woman was left disgusted after a lad dropped a penis photo into their innocent chat about tattoos.

Plus this reality star was slammed for moaning his wife doesn't have enough sex with him – just four weeks after giving birth.

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