What to Know
A couple in Spain has been making waves for a very surprising reason. Ana and Daniel Parra met when they were young adults and were quickly drawn to each other. But there was one major barrier to their relationship: they are biological half siblings. The two share the same father, but didn’t grow up in the same home.
As a result, the feelings they felt for each other were romantic instead of familial. While these feelings are a documented phenomenon, it’s still incredibly uncommon and very much frowned upon by society. But the Parras, who are in a romantic relationship and have children together, say they don’t care what others think.
The couple didn’t grow up in the same home.
Ana’s father left her family when she was very young. However, she knew that she had a half-sibling out there.
“My mother told me that my father had left us to start another family and that he had a son,” she told El Español, according to BoredPanda. “I was always curious to meet him.”
So when she was 20, she decided to track him down through Facebook.
Daniel, who was 17 at the time, had been living with his father since his parents separated when he was eight. “I’d been told before that I might have a sister out there, but my father never told me; it was something he wanted to hide,” he said.
Once the pair started talking, they instantly felt a connection. But when they finally met in person, things felt a “little awkward.” According to Daniel, “we didn’t really know what to say.”
They said it was “difficult” to maintain a strictly sibling relationship.
@anaparra_bcn Cualquier parecido con la realidad, es pura coincidencia 🙄 #LosParra #Meme #MemeCut #CapCut ♬ sonido original – Nerina Ceverino
Because the two never grew up in the same home, they said they didn’t have typical sibling feelings towards each other.
Then one night at a party, everything changed between Ana and Daniel Parra when they spontaneously kissed at a party. “That kiss broke all barriers, marked a before and after, it was like a reality check,” she said.
They knew what had happened wasn’t something that should have happened. Ana said they were “angry” with themselves over what had happened. “It was hard to admit and break that taboo – we are siblings even though we didn’t feel that way.”
After the kiss, they didn’t talk for several days, she said.
“Imagine liking a girl and, for a moral reason, being forbidden to be with her. It’s really hard to deal with,” Daniel said.
Despite knowing that it was wrong, Ana and Daniel Parra decided to enter a romantic relationship.
Daniel called the moral and societal norms keeping the siblings apart “silly.”
“If you think about it, our relationship is like any other, except for a family record book that says we’re blood siblings,” he said.
After normalizing their relationship amongst those who knew them, the couple decided to go on television and announce their relationship to the whole country at once. In their minds, it was easier than having to tell people individually.
The couple went on to have two children together, but not before consulting with a geneticist to assure that it was safe.
“I’m less likely to have ill children with Dani than with any random man I may meet,” she said. Still, that doesn’t stop people on social media from offering their criticism couched as concern. “It is not concern that you’re expressing. It is ignorance, prejudice, and a little bit of obsession.”
The couple wishes to marry each other, but cannot due to Spanish law. And while they’re not advocating for siblings to marry, they compared their specific situation to other historically marginalized groups.
“Societies must move forward and not be stuck in traditionalism,” Ana said. “Homosexuals weren’t allowed to marry either, and now they can. We love each other, and that’s what should prevail. We aren’t hurting anyone.”
