This Couple Found out They Were Cousins — and They Got Married Anyway

Jennifer Tisdale - Author
By

Nov. 21 2023, Published 6:11 p.m. ET

As per usual, Wikipedia truly has everything. I stumbled across its list of coupled cousins and it honestly feels like a bit. Is this thing on? Scrolling through, it primarily consists of folks from days of yore. I don't think anyone would be surprised to learn there are quite a few royals on it. There are so many, in fact, that they have their own section. The non-royals who stood out for me are Albert Einstein, H.G. Wells, and Edgar Allan Poe. Quoth the raven, "We're related."

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Obviously regular people, who don't have the prominence needed to secure a hyperlink on a Wikipedia page, also marry their cousins. Sometimes they don't even realize they are cousins until after the fact. For one TikToker, she discovered her boyfriend was actually her cousin six months into dating him. They decided to get married anyway. Social media is calling him her cuzband. Please put that on a T-shirt.

Albert and Elsa Einstein
Source: Getty Images

Albert Einstein is seated next to his wife/cousin, Elsa Einstein, in 1932.

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These cousins got married, on purpose!

Kenna, who goes by @kennahags on TikTok, decided to crack open the popular social media app in order to reveal a pretty intense secret. She was married to her cousin, and this was not a mistake. I know the youth is largely digital and barely analog, but this could have been a diary entry. Instead of The Princess Diaries it's the Incest Diaries. Call Anne Hathaway!

While clutching a can of what appears to be a terrifying brand of seltzer, Kenna and her husband gleefully embrace behind text explaining just how much they relate to each other. Hint: It's too much.

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The caption reads, "Just Utah things," and I hate to perpetuate a stereotype about Mormons and that state, but it seems as if Kenna is already doing that. Before anyone asks, she and her husband are definitely Mormons. In a TikTok from August 2023, the happy cousin couple are walking to a Mormon temple, pleased with how close they live to it.

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According to The Daily Mail in a November 2023 piece about the Mormon church, leaders were recently accused of covering up decades of sexual abuse and incest. This is certainly not the first publication to come forward with these claims. And while it's clear Kenna and her husband entered into this situation willingly, their casual attitude about it probably has something to do with their upbringing.

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Kenna and her cuzband lead a more traditional life.

While making a drink that is apparently specific to Utah, Kenna shares "controversial things she and her husband do," via a TikTok. Bear in mind, this video was shared before the cuzband reveal. I would argue that's the most controversial thing they've done.

Kenna shares that her cuzband is the only provider. She does not work but in the comments mentions being employed before they were married, and having a savings account. However, she never dips into it and only spends her cuzband's money.

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Another staple of the Mormon church is getting married quite young. Kenna and her cuzband got married when they were 20 and 25 respectively, after dating for 18 months. She is a stay-at-home wife who doesn't allow her cuzband to "set foot into the kitchen," and hasn't driven a car since they started dating.

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In more upsetting news, Kenna says she and her cuzband only hang out together. It appears as if they don't have friends and, furthermore, do not follow anyone from the opposite sex on social media unless that person is a relative. Obviously Kenna has conveniently forgotten that in her world, being related isn't an issue when it comes to getting friskyl

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There is one thing that gave me pause about this whole thing, and it's not the sneakily controlling relationship Kenna's cuzband has set up. Is this marriage legal? According to the state of Utah, where I assume they were married, it is not.

Per the Utah State Courts, "You cannot marry your first cousin, or anyone related more closely than a first cousin, such as an aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, parent or child, brother or sister. However, first cousins can marry if both are over 65, or, if both parties are over 55, if the court finds that they are unable to reproduce." Sadly in an earlier TikTok, Kenna revealed she had a miscarriage so they are trying to conceive. Unless I'm missing something, this marriage is a sham.

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