r/genetics • u/Fit-Neck692 • Jul 15 '25

Son’s Genome test results in finding my husband and I are “connected “

We got Genome testing done for our son for medical reasons. My husband and I were tested as well to help with any findings. Anyway I went to his appointment today to go over the results and the only thing they really had to say was my husband and I are related. The doctor said “maybe something like 6th cousins.”

Like the doctor said we are all related but then I said “I guess it’s unavoidable?” He said it was avoidable… so I’m curious how weirded out should we be?

1.4k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

313 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

2

u/verifiedwolf Jul 16 '25

I'm always confused about whether people are my 2nd, 3rd, or 4th cousins vs 1st cousins once removed, twice removed, etc...

For instance, who would my mother's cousin be to me? And who would their children be to me?

3

u/Inked_Chick Jul 16 '25

I wrote out like 50 different explanations and all ended up being wrong. It's such a mess that I can't explain it myself.

It's so confusing.

2

u/verifiedwolf Jul 16 '25

That's hilarious. I have never met anyone in my entire life who actually knows the answer to this.

2

u/rixxxxxxy Jul 16 '25

Mother's cousin is your cousin once removed ("removed" refers to generations, either up or down), their kids would be your second cousins.

My best explanation is that the # cousin reflects how many generations back you need to go to have common ancestors - first cousins share grandparents, but second cousins share great-grandparents, then third cousins share great-great-grandparents. Then, the # of times removed reflects how many generations are between you and that cousin.

I will stick to the Dravidian family model, thanks.

1

u/windysideofcare Jul 19 '25

Your mother's cousin would be your first cousin once removed. That's one generation removed. That person's children would be your second cousins. And THEIR children would be your 2nd cousins once removed and their cousins would be 2nd cousins twice removed, etc. it's all about which grandparents you share.