GROWING up, Donna Price's childhood seemed as picture-perfect as any other happy youngster's.

Her mum and dad doted on her and her siblings, and to outsiders they seemed the perfect family - but they were hiding a dark secret.

8 Donna Price, 32, discovered her parents had the same mother Credit: The Sun

8 The parents of Donna were in a relationship for around a decade despite being half-siblings Credit: supplied

8 Robin Price admitted he shouldn't have been in a relationship with his sister but said the pair had fallen in love before knowing Credit: The Sun

Donna's world came crashing down one dark day in 2014 when she discovered the devastating news that her loving parents were brother and sister.

The shock revelation not only tore the family apart, it ended up in a courtroom last month as the pair pleaded guilty to incest - narrowly avoiding jail.

Speaking exclusively to The Sun Online, Donna, 32, said she has still not recovered from the shock.

Breaking down in tears as she relived the betrayal, Donna, who approached the Sun Online to tell her story, said: “I feel my childhood was all based on a lie. I hate them.

"There’s not enough words to describe how much I hate them."

To further twist the knife, Donna learned in the course of the police investigation that the man she knew as her father was not even her real dad - a DNA test found her mother had an affair with an unknown male.

'WE FELL FOR EACH OTHER' Incest dad who had three children with his SISTER says ‘we just fell in love’

But police confirmed her three younger siblings were her parents' biological children.

Donna was given the devastating news about her incestuous parents in December 2014 by an estranged aunt, who confirmed the news through a Facebook message after rumours had started to swirl.

She said: "I had thought it was somebody just trying to stir up stuff because surely that sort of thing could never have happened.

“But her reply was yes, they are brother and sister."

8 Donna as a baby: The court case found the man she thought was her father was not even her real dad Credit: supplied

8 Donna as a young girl, with her two sisters and brother Steven Credit: supplied

She said: "My son had just been discharged from hospital after being poorly and I come out of the hospital and my phone went ping and it was that message.

"I felt sick and my stomach just dropped.

"I spoke to my partner about it and decided I would wait until after Christmas, have a normal day as much as I could while I gathered up information."

It was then, at the end of 2014, that Donna reported her own parents to the police, sparking a two year investigation that would see the pair eventually plead guilty and given suspended sentences in court.

The Sun has decided not to identify Donna's mum in any way to protect her young children from a subsequent relationship.

Now refusing to call the pair mum and dad, Donna said: "It was horrendous and one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.

"But I still would have done the same thing again."

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While bravely trying to come to terms with the truth, Donna said she couldn’t look back on her childhood without a mixture of sadness and anger.

"I have so many memories as a family but I don’t have any of that anymore," she said.

"This has clouded everything, I can’t see past it.

"Until you’re in that situation you’re in, it’s hard to get your head around it.

"How two people managed to manipulate and con people – how can you do that to anyone."

8 Donna said she couldn't get over what had happened Credit: the sun

8 Steven, the youngest child of the brother-sister couple, died when he was just seven-years-old Credit: supplied

8 The couple had been estranged before they met and fell in love, Robin Price said Credit: supplied

Speaking from her home in the south of England, Donna has tried to create a new family for herself, dedicating herself to raising her four children with her loving partner.

The family dogs play in the backyard, with the home full of signs of a loving family.

But any trace of her parents – family photos, childhood toys – has been removed.

A mother herself, Donna said she couldn’t understand how siblings could ever look at each other in a romantic way.

When contacted by The Sun Online, dad Robin was full of regret - but claimed he didn't intend to fall in love with his half-sister - who he did not meet until adulthood.

He claimed he met her in a pub in the 1980s – and had no idea that they were related until a year into the couple’s relationship.

By then, he said they had already fallen for each other.

Now 62, he said: "Looking at it now, then yes, it was wrong.

"At the time, to us, that was it, we was happy, we didn't give a monkey about what anybody else thought.”

I feel my childhood was all based on a lie. I hate them. Donna Price

He said he and his half-sister had initially decided to break off their relationship after an aunt met them and realised they were related - but it was then they discovered the sister was pregnant.

The couple, who never married, then went on to have three more children, before finally separating in 1994.

Their youngest, Steven tragically died when he was just seven-years-old in 2001, with Donna's parents breaking off all ties between them.

Robin, who lives in southeast London, said: "When we met, we just fell in love.

"How can you not fall in love with someone, if you meet someone and get along, you're going to fall for them.

"I suppose, looking back on it, we shouldn't have done it."

Speaking to the Sun Online, Robin said the siblings had not known about each other growing up, as he was estranged from the mother they shared.

Revealing the moment he realised he had been sleeping with his sister, he said: "We met one of my auntys and she kept looking at both of us.

"She said, 'you know something? You two are brother and sister'. "I said, 'oh yea of course we are'.

"But she said she was certain."

KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY: Cases of incest in the UK - A 47-year-old man and his daughter pleaded guilty to incest in 2011. The court heard that the pair had been estranged for several years before beginning a sexual relationship - A Brit mother and son revealed they had become involved in a romantic relationship after meeting in 2014. The mother had given her son up for adoption but reunited 30 years later - A woman who was adopted when she was 17-months-old tracked down her father as an adult with the pair beginning a sexual relationship in 2010

It was then the couple investigated and confronted their shared mother, who Robin says he was estranged from, who confirmed their worst fears.

Robin said: "I felt like somebody stabbed me.

"I just couldn't believe it when we found out."

He said the pair had separated in 1994, but he continued to help raise their son, Steven, who was diagnosed with severe epilepsy.

He said that he and his sister-lover had considered telling their children but never did - and he hoped to one day reconcile with them.

Robin Price and the mother both faced court earlier this year on charges of incest, with both pleading guilty at Croydon Crown Court.

The court heard that it was a “consenting not coercive” relationship.

Mr Price, 62, was given a five months suspended sentence while Donna's mother, whose current identity we have decided not to reveal, was given three months suspended.